A Story of Recovery From Addiction

Darla was born in a medium size southern town. Everything about Darla suggested her future held a charmed life. Growing up, Darla never told anyone she wanted to be an addict. Of course, being an addict was never a consideration. Who wants to be addict? Who even thinks about such a thing growing up? Darla certainly didn’t plan on becoming an addict. The importance of this is that when we see an adult addict ravaged by years of alcoholism/addiction, it’s difficult to imagine that person as a child, happy, carefree, laughing, playing and doing the things children do. Darla loved life, made friends, did well in school and was by all measures a normal, healthy child. This a story of recovery from addiction.

When Darla became a teenager, at 15 years of age, she experimented with alcohol. There was a party, a friend had a bottle of her parents’ liquor, and, as often happens with teenagers, Darla gave into the moment and took a drink, then a few more. She hated the taste but loved the effect. Darla’s parents weren’t strict, although they were firm and fair. Darla had never been taught that drinking is a sin or anything like that, but she also hadn’t been warned that alcohol can become a serious problem with some people, even a healthy, happy teenager like herself. Darla knew her parents would disapprove, but she didn’t see any harm in drinking a little now and then when she had the chance. 

An old, false idea about addiction is that the addicted person has some terrible past trauma that drives them to escape, and that this escape is addiction. Addiction can happen to anyone, regardless if they grew up in a healthy home environment, or whether they were abused, or whether they experienced a death of a parent, or whatever other reason usually associated with addiction. Darla had no trauma, no deaths, no emotional or mental disorders. Darla was a healthy, well rounded teenager, who like many teenagers began experimenting with alcohol, and who eventually became addicted to alcohol.

It took 4 or 5 years for the alcoholism to progress and create serious consequences, but at age 20 Darla was in mid stage alcoholism. Late stage alcoholism is when the person begins experiencing physical problems and usually dies from the disease. What’s important to know is that not everyone becomes an alcoholic if they start drinking at 15, or start at any other age. The great majority of people drink with no consequences — they can take it or leave. About ten percent of people who drink become alcoholic — they become addicted to alcohol. There’s decades of research that leads to the conclusion that some people are predisposed physiologically to alcoholism, about 10 percent. It doesn’t matter if the person is smart, what race they are, if they’re religious, atheist, emotionally stable, rich, poor, male or female, young, old, it’s the same for everyone with the predisposition who continues to drink over a period of time thinking they’re normal.

Alcoholism advances quickly or slowly. Some people become out of control alcoholics in a matter of a few years, while others become progressively worse for 10 to 20 years before it becomes seriously life threatening. In a way, Darla was lucky in that her alcoholism advanced so quickly. Darla got 2 DUIs, started using other drugs with alcohol, lost most of her friends and strained her family relationships in ways she never intended. When Darla received her second DUI, the family attorney suggested she get treatment. At first, Darla resisted. She was embarrassed. She felt shame that she’d hurt her parents, but her coping skills had become damaged by the alcohol, and she didn’t know how to express her strong and conflicting emotions.

Darla finally consented to receive treatment. Darla met other people with addiction problems and began to open up. Darla became honest. Looking back over the past five years, Darla could recognize the progression of alcoholism, how the insane obsession progressed,  how she drifted from one set of friends to another, how she lost interest in the things that once gave her pleasure, like reading, cycling, working out and writing poetry. Darla could see that she continued to drink in spite of negative consequences. It was crazy what she was doing. At first, Darla thought her life was over, but soon realized it was just beginning. 

After treatment Darla found an AA meeting that had lots of people her age. Darla slowly learned that alcohol or other drugs are not necessary to live a full and rich life. In fact, Darla learned to love her clarity of mind, her ambition to achieve goals, her healthy friendships and her healed family life. Darla learned to manage her recovery. It was not like she expected at all. In the beginning, Darla thought recovery would be a daily hassle, but it become something totally different, something she looked forward to each day, even the days when things didn’t go right and she had problems.

Darla gained confidence that no matter what happens she can handle it and grow from it. Darla started working out again, eating healthy, reading and learning, went to college,  developed a career in nursing, and became a person in AA who helped dozens (probably over a hundred by now) of young women who came into the program unsure of what to expect. Was it easy? it never is. Was it worth it? It always is. This is a story of recovery from addiction.