In July of 2001 I tried cocaine for the first time; I was 21 years old. I was hooked immediately and in the following few years my life went in a downward spiral.
I remember when my family first confronted me with the issue and all of the indicators they had spotted; it was Christmas Day 2005, what a Christmas!!! At that point my parents did not reach out to professionals who deal in addictions, instead they figured they knew best and kept a close eye on me, but that did nothing to stop the drug use. Over the following year I manipulated my way around any conversation that dealt with me and was critical of everyone else so no attention would be on me. But it was very obvious that the direction my life was going was not the right way. One year later and a whole lot of heartache and pain I found myself in a long-term treatment center that dealt with my addiction and what had led me to it. I will always thank me family for being there for me when I needed them most and for putting the pressure on me to seek treatment because I feared that my rock bottom would have certainly been death.
Now my life is affluent again, I am achieving my goals and have been drug free for almost four years. If I can give an addict a small piece of advice it would be to accept the help because help is there, all you have to do is ask. And for the families of addicts, it doesn’t have to be this way, reach out to addictions professionals and ask for help, it is so easy with the proper assistance.
My name is Scott Burgess and I am a Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor. I have been helping addicts, alcoholics, and their families for many years. I work in the private sector of rehabilitation where resources are vast, efficient, and successful. I have been trapped in the harmful world of addiction myself and share great reality with those I work with.