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Wednesday 24 February 2021
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Written by Rod
Today is International Family Drug Support Day - let's talk.
Our Alcohol and Other Drugs team doesn’t just support those battling addiction. We support their families.
Family are the ones who quite often get blindsided by the drug use and have no support or knowledge of how to cope.
Our Family Drug Support Group brings people together to share experiences and support each other.
We talk about the need to care for yourself as well as others.
And we work hard to get rid of the stigma around drug use which is unfair, unjust and does nothing to help those facing traumatic circumstances in their family life.
So, how does drug use impact on a family?
We are so grateful to a Bendigo mother who has allowed us to reproduce extracts from her diary to give you a raw and heartfelt insight into life with sons hooked on ice.
We publish this today to show you not only the impact of drug use on a family but also what can happen when a family reaches out for support and help.
If this story is similar to yours ... please reach out.
Friday, June 12, 2020
Who can I tell my story to?
My biggest wish in life is coming true.
My son is coming off ice.
Where to start?
I have three sons.
Oldest son has used ice, but is now clean for few years now.
I don’t really know his ice story. I was not aware at the time of his using, or his coming off. I know he suffered greatly from depression at the time too, and that his boss helped him overcome the ice addiction but I don’t know much more than that. I’d like to ask him some time to tell me his story.
My youngest son was heavily into ice which led to him getting into a lot of criminal trouble, ending up in gaol for two years, with another parole time of just one year. He has recently just finished the parole and is now a ‘free’ man. I will come back to his story later.
What I really want to tell you about is so wonderful.
I am so happy, proud, excited, pleased, and so - I don’t think there is a word that really suits.
How can I be proud that my drug-addicted son is coming off? Well, I am.
This is my middle son. Leigh* says he has been using ice for 10-15 years. So long ago, that when he started it was a new drug, he did not know anything about it, the tremendous hold it has over people, the incredible immediate addictiveness of it.
There is so much to tell of the past many years of using and the widespread damage it causes to himself and everyone around him, and every aspect of our lives.
But getting back to what I really want to tell you - Leigh* stopped using 25 days ago.
Yes, I am counting and so is he.
I can only tell you my side of the story as I see it and understand it. But understanding anything to do with drug use is, well, impossible. Why Leigh* started, what made him stop when he did, what made him stop at all, will be use again. So many questions, so many mixed emotions.
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