Having just written this in response to a parent's letter, it occured to me that I should post here as well.
Turns out that the hitting-rock-bottom bit isn't true after all, as addicts are capable of surviving awful circumstances which you and I would surely think of as something we'd never, ever want to repeat - yet they do. If your adult child is now hooked on heroin, it's going to be a very long haul, I'm afraid. Heroin is such a vicious substance that when addicts have been clean for months, and even years, the siren call is too powerful and they relapse, again and again.
The best thing families can do is educate themselves about heroin addiction, realize it's real and not something that can be only used sometimes like cocaine, and brace themselves for the coming years. It's been quite challenging for me to find heroin addicts in recovery who are comfortable talking about what eventually allowed them to stay sober, but so far it seems to be one of two things: they had a spiritual experience, or their guilt about abandoning their children finally gave them the strength to do the every-single-day-for-the-rest-of-their-lives work to be sober.
I wish I could give you more hopeful news. ~ Cheryl
Turns out that the hitting-rock-bottom bit isn't true after all, as addicts are capable of surviving awful circumstances which you and I would surely think of as something we'd never, ever want to repeat - yet they do. If your adult child is now hooked on heroin, it's going to be a very long haul, I'm afraid. Heroin is such a vicious substance that when addicts have been clean for months, and even years, the siren call is too powerful and they relapse, again and again.
The best thing families can do is educate themselves about heroin addiction, realize it's real and not something that can be only used sometimes like cocaine, and brace themselves for the coming years. It's been quite challenging for me to find heroin addicts in recovery who are comfortable talking about what eventually allowed them to stay sober, but so far it seems to be one of two things: they had a spiritual experience, or their guilt about abandoning their children finally gave them the strength to do the every-single-day-for-the-rest-of-their-lives work to be sober.
I wish I could give you more hopeful news. ~ Cheryl
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