Treatment staff and her peers help Natalie find a path to recovery from heroin addiction. A confronting situation years later, when she is a treatment practitioner, helps Natalie realise that she is still traumatised from her childhood experiences. A second recovery journey begins. (10,923 words)
‘Experiences of a Mother of Two Young Heroin Addicts’ by Mark
June 22, 2021 by
A very moving blog which first appeared on Wired In To Recovery (WITR) in May 2009. Mark blogged regularly on WITR until the community closed. I also published this on Recovery Stories in June 2013.
‘We found my 20 year old brother dead of an overdose. He had just kicked the habit so tolerance was low. He started a job and the first payday was his last. Mum wrote this after I got clean. Copy and use it anywhere it can be of use.’ Mark
‘What is it like being the mother of an addict? (Experiences of a Mother of Two Young Heroin Addicts)
My Friend Natalie
April 6, 2021 by
I first met Natalie in my early days of working in the addiction field in the community. I still remember clearly her telling me that when she was using heroin, she did not know how to stop. She could find no information about how to stop using heroin. She knew no one who had stopped using.
Fortunately, Natalie accessed a high-quality treatment agency (WGCADA) and she found recovery. When we met, she told me that there needed to be stories of people who had found recovery available so that people with a drug and/or alcohol problem could read and learn from them. I asked her if we could write her Story. She agreed.
5th Year Anniversary for Ron Grover’s blog
February 26, 2014 by
One of the most popular blog postings on this website is From Discovery To Recovery: My Emotional Journey As The Parent Of An Addict by Ron Grover. Well worth a visit.
Ron celebrated the 5th anniversary of his blog An Addict In Our Son’s Bedroom last month. Here is what he had to say:
‘On January 20, 1999 I began writing this blog. Never when I began did I think it would become what it has and last this long. At this point it has become an old friend and it keeps me connected to friends all over.
My Favourite Blogs: ‘Experiences of a mother of two young heroin addicts’ by Mark’
February 1, 2014 by
A very moving blog which first appeared on Wired In To Recovery (WITR) in May 2009 and on Recovery Stories in June 2013. Mark blogged regularly on WITR until the community closed.
“We found my 20 year old brother dead of an overdose. He had just kicked the habit so tolerance was low. He started a job and the first payday was his last.
Mum wrote this after I got clean. Copy and use it anywhere it can be of use.”
‘Beautiful Boy: More Than An Addict’ by Jim Contopulos
August 2, 2013 by
The beauty of the Santa Rosa Ecological Reserve in southern California provides the backdrop for a father’s lament upon losing his beautiful son to addiction and mental illness.
Walk alongside him, as together, we who survive dream of a better day, sustained and inspired by the pain, brokenness and courage of those who live with the unrelenting weight of mental illness and addiction.
‘Never give up hope’ by Elizabeth Burton-Phillips
June 14, 2013 by
Another of my favourite blogs from Wired In To Recovery, from December 2009.
“Like most grandparents, I can’t resist showing off pictures of my beautiful little grandson James, sitting with his adoring father Simon. But for me, the joy runs even more deeply than most, contrasting as it does with the devastation my family experienced almost six years ago.
At the age of 13, my son Simon and his twin brother Nick began experimenting with drugs by smoking cannabis. They sampled increasingly dangerous drugs over a period of 14 years, culminating in injecting heroin. One February day in 2004, after a huge drug-fuelled argument, Simon went to make peace with his brother and found that Nick had hanged himself.
‘Experiences of a mother of two young heroin addicts’ by Mark
June 13, 2013 by
A very moving blog which first appeared on Wired In To Recovery (WITR) in May 2009. Mark blogged regularly on WITR until the community closed.
“We found my 20 year old brother dead of an overdose. He had just kicked the habit so tolerance was low. He started a job and the first payday was his last.
Mum wrote this after I got clean. Copy and use it anywhere it can be of use.”
‘What is it like being the mother of an addict? (Experiences of a mother of two young heroin addicts)
Susan’s Story, Part 2: ‘Missing Michael – A Story by Blog’
June 11, 2013 by
Susan lost her son Michael to a drug overdose on the 22nd January, 2010. I, for one, cannot begin to understand what someone must go through after such a loss.
However, I gained some appreciation from the Susan’s extraordinary writing in a blog she published on our online recovery community Wired In To Recovery. I was captivated and deeply moved by Susan’s writing, as were many other people in our community.
This is Part 2 of a slightly edited version of Sue’s blogs. Check out Part 1 if you have not seen it.
Must-read books: ‘Tweak’ and ‘Beautiful Boy’
June 10, 2013 by
Five years ago I read two remarkable books by a father and son. There was only one way to describe these books – they were an emotional roller coaster. I read one straight after the other, hardly putting them down.
I was wrapped… and I was drained! I felt despair… and then hope. I learnt so much from these books. I cannot recommend them highly enough.
The two books were addiction Recovery Stories, written by Nic and David Scheff. Here’s what the back cover of Nic’s book Tweak had to say:
Susan’s Story, Part 1: ‘Missing Michael – A Story by Blog’
June 10, 2013 by
Susan lost her son Michael to a drug overdose on the 22nd January, 2010. I, for one, cannot begin to understand what someone must go through after such a loss.
However, I gained some appreciation from the Susan’s extraordinary writing in a blog she published on our online recovery community Wired In To Recovery. I was captivated and deeply moved by Susan’s writing, as were many other people in our community.
I decided it would be a good idea to edit down Susan’s writing into a more manageable size and publish it in a single document. However, I found this difficult, as there was so little I felt I should edit out.
Natalie’s Story: ‘I didn’t plan to be an addict’ (Part 2)
June 7, 2013 by
I first met ‘Natalie’ over 12 years ago when I lived in South Wales. I will never forget how she emphasised the importance of providing online support for people with substance use problems. She had been desperate to find helpful online information when she trying to overcome her drug problem.
Natalie has always been such an inspiration to people around her. Mind you, many people had to first get over the shock of finding that such a lovely lady had once been a heroin addict.
We left Natalie in Part 1 of this Story in the pre-treatment part of a 12-step treatment programme.
‘Remembering my son’ by Susan C
June 7, 2013 by
Some of the most moving blogs on Wired In To Recovery were from Susan C who lost her loving son Michael from a heroin overdose in 2010.
Sue contacted me recently and said how much she missed the old website. She found it to be a lifeline when she was struggling. I had the impression that writing helped Sue deal with her terrible loss, if only a little. Here is one of Susan’s blogs from 2011.
Next week, I start a three part ‘Story by Blog’ by Susan C entitled ‘Missing Michael’.
Natalie’s Story: ‘I didn’t plan to be an addict’ (Part 1)
June 6, 2013 by
I first met ‘Natalie’ over 12 years ago when I lived in South Wales. I will never forget how she emphasised the importance of providing online support for people with substance use problems. She had been desperate to find helpful online information when she trying to overcome her drug problem.
Natalie has always been such an inspiration to people around her. Mind you, many people had to first get over the shock of finding that such a lovely lady had once been a heroin addict.
The Personal Story of Kevan Manley
June 6, 2013 by
This is a short version of a 35 minute film focusing on Kevin’s recovery from drug addiction that we made a number of years ago. His mother Kerry talks about her experiences during Kevin’s 15 year history of problem drug use and his recovery.
The film was made for Wired In by Jonathan Kerr-Smith and Lucie James in and around Cardiff, South Wales.
