Almost died from DUI, now 26 years in recovery from addiction! :-)
When I was a teenager, my mother was an alcoholic widow, and my older sister was a full-time coke dealer. I routinely consumed LARGE quantities of alcohol and other recreational drugs. In 1992 I almost died after destroying my 4th motor vehicle while driving drunk. I was driving home drunk from a bar one night; I fell asleep at the wheel while not wearing a seatbelt and wrapped my new car around a signpost on a highway in PA. I spend the next week in a coma and the next year in recovery from a Traumatic Brain Injury. As soon as I got out of the hospital, I immediately resumed drinking and driving.
Four years later (12/1/96) I decided to quit using alcohol & other drugs and started working a 12-step program (AA). That program caused me to recognize an important behavior pattern of mine. I was continuing to use alcohol & other drugs despite all the negative consequences. I finally accepted that my behavior was irrational. No other organization or program showed me that my behavior was irrational, to the point of almost causing my death! That was one of the many reasons why I accepted the fact that I was an alcoholic, which I learned is one of the many forms of addiction. I worked the 12-step (AA & NA) programs as hard as I could. I did have some difficulties with 12 Step programs (e.g. sponsors, hypocrisy). But I was tenacious and stuck to the program because I had come to believe in the 12 Step philosophy.
12 Step programs were part of the evolution of my healing process, like a steppingstone. After about 17 years of successful recovery with the help of 12-Step programs, I decided to switch from spiritual to secular programs, and started working the SMART Recovery program.
On 12/1/22 I celebrated 26 years in recovery from addiction & living drug & alcohol free! I am living proof that there is no need to suffer the effects of addiction, because recovery from addiction is possible!
I am grateful to the God of my understanding, the participants of 12-Step & SMART recovery programs and the many psychologists who have helped me to succeed with recovery from addiction and many other aspects of my mental health!
Addiction has been a very serious, multifaceted, and widespread problem in America for a long time now. For anyone still suffering from addiction, I am living proof that long-term recovery from addiction is not just possible, it is also becoming more and more common in America. The base of people in recovery from addiction seems to be expanding every day. A strong grassroots recovery movement is also taking form in America!
Congratulations!
Thank you for sharing your story.
Thank you for sharing your story.
