Addiction is no joke. In the past year, I've woken up in the hospital twice with no recollection of how I got there; the first time, someone found me face-down in the snow at 3am and called the police, and the second time I was found somewhere on a hot July day passed out with a BAC of over .40. And then there were the two times in the past 18 months I've woken up in jail. I just got released from jail this past Sunday after my offenses led to me missing the holidays with my family.
And I don't have anywhere close to the access and social pressures this guy does. I hope he figures this stuff out before it's REALLY too late.
I'm right there with you buddy. 25 years clean and sober. Alcohol almost killed me a couple of times, but it was the 2 years of smoking crack that took away my career and home.
Addiction and alcoholism has 2 parts, the part we are born with, and the part we are exposed to growing up. We are emotionally subject to a body that excretes chemicals in to our system and brain. If they are continually imbalanced, then depression and other emotional imbalances can lead to alcoholism and addiction. If we are exposed to abuse and abandonment growing up, it only amplifies those feelings of hopelessness and depression.
I never understood people who committed suicide, until I had an overwhelming emotion and feeling that I did not want to be here anymore. It happened in January a couple of years ago, and fortunately only lasted a few seconds. But it scared the hell out of me.
Sundown M Ranch in Yakima, Washington will always be hallowed ground to me. That's where I got sober in the Spring of 1998. The other thing that has really helped me (besides work, meetings, working out, keeping active), is Achieve TMS. They put a helmet on you, 5 days a week for 3 or 4 weeks, and it opens pathways in your brain. It was crazy how well it worked for me! People at work were noticing the change in me, in midwinter no less.
The problem with TMS is it's expensive, and I've been fighting my insurance for 2 years because they trying to save money, at the expense of my emotional health. I'll win, eventually though. I'm stubborn when it comes to my health.
Fortunately, alcoholism and addiction don't have the stigma that they used to, and it's easier for people to get help.
I'm always here for anybody that's struggling, so if you have questions, or just want to talk, PM me. Understanding the disease is the first step to fighting it.
www.espn.com
