Narconon UK Newsletter 18-02-2008
Welcome to the Narconon UK newsletter.
Today I'd like to share with you the story of one of
our current students, how he became addicted to drugs
and how he is getting on with the Narconon programme.
Please note that he expresses his personal views here
and these do not necessarily represent the views of
Narconon.
"I remember like it was yesterday the first time I
felt reassured by the safety net that alcohol would
provide for me, I was eleven and had been told some bad
news that I had difficulty in confronting and
understanding. I found that my world that up until then
was safe and secure was now in total confusion and
uncertainty. I went from being a confident growing boy
to a child, scared and living in constant uncertainty.
The solution came quickly to me, my parents partied
every weekend and I associated their laughter, smiles
and easy going nature to the glasses they raised to
their lips. As I watched with my innocent eyes this was
or seemed to be the way out of the pain I was feeling.
So I began to drink, the eleven year old boy that I was,
intelligent, resourceful had no problem getting hold of
alcohol.
By the time I was fourteen I needed to drink before
going to school, at lunchtime a skin full and to cure
afternoon hangovers a drink before going home. Although
I did not do brilliantly at school (I found most
subjects to be of a tedious nature) I excelled at music
and the arts. My passion for music kept my soul alive.
Now as my self confessed hedonistic escape artist nature
will confess, alcohol in great quantities becomes quite
boring and I quickly needed and looked for stimulants to
support my great escape. Hashish, speed, cocaine,
heroin, ecstasy, rehyphnol ( ah the great legal escape,
I will touch on that again later), valium, methadone,
anti-depressants, anti-psychotics. By the time I was 18
I was buying illegal and legal drugs and drinking so
heavily I didn't even get drunk, just living dead at
best.
Anyway between the ages of 18 and 39 I was
hospitalised or in emergency 10 times this included 4
stays in psychiatric units, overdoses and comas due to
suicide attempts. Despite my problems I think I can come
to the conclusion that I was not a very happy man.
22nd April 2007 having been separated from my third
partner for 6 months, my brother-in-law recognised the
appalling physical and mental health I was in. He told
me I was going to rehab. On the 29th April 2007 he
scraped me off the floor and that very same day I
arrived at Narconon here in Hastings, England. First
step, drug free withdrawal (this is so important), staff
dedication, a series of what they call assists this
helps greatly to relax. The emphasis is on replenishing
ones vitamins reserves in the body to ease the pain.
Once the pain and discomfort had ceased and a good
appetite and healthy sleep pattern had been
re-established I joined the rest of the community and
moved on to the course room. This is run by the course
room supervisors and I stress the word supervisor. They
are not teachers; the only person who can teach me is
myself. In the course room we are shown ways through
text books and supervision how to do what might be most
simple and taken for granted by most, this is to
confront and communicate.
The next step of the programme is the detoxification
part of the programme. This is one of the most intense
and difficult parts of the course (and why should rehab
be easy?) This involves a sauna programme up to 5 hours
a day an a vitamins course which along with exercise and
heavy sweating releases drug residues trapped in the
body.
Once out of the sauna it's back to the course room,
where we learn techniques of study and how this can
improve our understanding of the written word and its
importance. Next the crucial and most constructive part
of the course for me objectives. I'll give you the
definition of the word objective, which is pertinent to
the course - "expressing or dealing with facts or
conditions as perceived without distortion by personal
feelings, prejudices or interpretations." Now for me,
living in a dream world for the past 25 years or so
these objective exercise have helped me, no wait, I'm
reborn, I'm free, I'm beautiful, I am most of all myself
again, not afraid, confident and happy. I must confess
while you are reading this that I am still on objective
9 of the 11 objectives and work is still in progress.
The objectives have already changed my view of my
life, my issues, my fears, my pain are eased and I am
much more able to deal with them and confront them
whenever they arise.
You will probably have formulated an opinion that yes
drugs are destructive and that some people have issues
that lead them to addiction and while it would seen so
easy to follow the popular life that some people have
"addictive tendencies or nature". I can assure you that
there is no such thing. For me addiction is a series of
traumatic or non-traumatic events that lead to an
inability to confront situations.
Earlier on I put a note about illegal and legal drugs
and I leave you with food for thought. Dealers for
example sell a drug to supplement a habit or make a
living or both. They do sell misery to the miserable and
once addicted the dependant lives a hard life and coming
off drugs is really hard without dedicated help or
medication it's impossible. Most addicts try to clean up
with no help at least once; we will confirm that it
hurts, a lot! Possibly we stay clean, but most of us
don't. So we seek help from either state or private
doctors. They prescribe drugs, methadone, valium,
sleeping pills, anti-depressants, anti-psychotics to
help ease our suffering. They don't work they are a
facade of respectability, a shield behind which the
people that claim to understand and help us, hide
behind. Ask any addict that has been prescribed one or
more of the above, the legal drugs are more destructive
on the mind and soul and are harder and more painful
(methadone a prime example) to withdraw from that any
street drug.
I love it here, I want to work on myself, I look back
on the student that I was and the results of my
behaviour patterns on the outside (I've been suspended
from the programme twice) and the implication it has on
being a student here. I've been here over 9 months, work
is definitely in progress."
P.H.
Call 0800 169 4803 now to speak to one of our
counsellors.
Best Regards,
Alison Brennan
Managing Director
Narconon UK
Tel. 01424 420 036
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