"... relapse is not a part of my recovery. There is nothing wrong with my brain..."
"I wrote a Success Story when I graduated the Narconon® program back in early 2002, but I was motivated recently to write a followup success story about how things are five years later.
"As background, I am from an upper middle class family. Around age 17 my friends started pressuring me to try drugs. I started with morphine, then pot, heroin, crystal meth--pretty much everything! For the next 35 years I was a heroin addict. My life consisted of waking up sick and planning and plotting how I would get my next fix. I had to resort to crime in order to maintain my habit which led me in and out of the penal system. Prison seemed to have a revolving door for me because no matter how long I stayed incarcerated and clean, I would return to society and pick up where I left off. I would go in and out of treatment centers to no avail. I felt I was doomed to be a drug addict until I died.
"I lost all trust from relatives and was ashamed to be around them because of my guilt. My immediate family was devastated and not only did I almost bankrupt them but I took them through years of turmoil and heartache.
"One day my mother received a flyer in the mail promoting the Narconon program and read it with interest. She made a call and decided that this might be the program that would work for me. I came to the program and indeed it did work for me. It made total sense.
"Not only did the program handle my drug problem but it also gave me the tools to handle any other problem in life. It restored my self-confidence, gave me a purpose to my life, and renewed my interest in life. I have earned the trust of my family back and I have learned to give rather than constantly take.
"I have been staff at Narconon Arrowhead now for five years and really love being able to help people beat their addiction.
"Now, having heard some rumor about addiction being a chronic relapsing brain disease, I'd like to go on record that relapse is not a part of my recovery. There is nothing wrong with my brain. Years ago my mother, in her desperation, took me to a psychiatrist. He talked with me for 5 minutes, said I had a chemical imbalance, was "bi-polar" and prescribed me Prozac! Fortuneately, I didn't take it and eventually found the Narconon program.
"Once I permanently got off drugs, cleared the fog out with the sauna detoxification process, and then handled the issues that lead me to drugs in the first place, my life and brain are completely normal. I don’t fight and struggle on a daily basis to stay clean. My cravings for drugs and the drug life style are gone. To have put me on medication for “my brain to function normally” would have continued my life of drugs--not what I was wanting! To substitute one drug for another just continues the vicious cycle. And that's why I so love helping people get through the Narconon program. Then they are truly drug-free! -- Tempe Greene, Narconon Arrowhead graduate and staff member"
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Narconon Arrowhead
Website: www.stopaddiction.com
(800) 468-6933 (toll free)
More graduate stories
10 Things Your Friends May Not Know About Drugs booklet
A simple easy-to-read booklet which exposes the most common false information that kids have. Step by step with illustrations the true information is given so young people can make the right decision.
(28-page booklet)
Marijuana The Myth -- DVD
Many have heard that "marijuana is natural" or "it can't hurt you" or "it only stays in your system for thirty days"... Is this really true? What are the real effects of Marijuana on your health? Hear the truth like you've never heard before! This video provides up-to-date information about marijuana for teenagers, which they won't get anywhere else. (Grade Level: Secondary School Grades 9 thru 12)
80 mins.
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