Question for the Recovering Addicts

[Mary Petunia]

Hi folks,
I'm from the Nar-Anon group, but had a question I wanted to ask you all. My husband is the addict in my life... always a pot user, then opiates, now cocaine. I've pretty much lost hope in our relationship, but I will always hope and pray that my husband finds recovery. He was in an in-patient program once, then relapsed about four times. When he came out of the in-patient program, that was the longest stretch of sober time. He only did 60 of the recommended 90+ meetings. Each time that he relapsed, I'd gently encourage him to return to rehab. and/or to attend meetings. He always responded, "I know what I have to do... there's nothing anyone else can do for me." I always suspected that was just an excuse. Just curious if any of you out there shared his "aversion" to meetings and what it was that finally made you realize that you couldn't do it WITHOUT NA... and then, I guess as a follow up question... CAN you do it w/o NA (or some other support system/program)? Thanks for letting me visit! Wishing you all peace, strength, and serenity

[Hopeless]

Great quesiton Mary, I would love to know the answer to that same question. With me it is my mother and she is an alcoholic, everytime she says she will go to the meetings, she says they help, but then last minute she changes her mind and says she will go later.. she does good for a while and then just stops.

[Gooch]

I never really had an aversion to meetings...

I just had an aversion to facing life without a buzz... ( it's scary chit having unknown emotions falling out of you at every turn)

I know people who partied the same as me, same quanties, similiar substances, some even a little harder that just woke up one day and said "gee what was I thinking?" or in the case of one of my friends when they started to urine screen at work said "well that sucks" and just like that quit. Not me .. I tried that sort of "quitting' until I got good at the quitting part. I just never had any success at the staying quit part. These days I still tell myslef I haven't necessarily quit, but just for today I don't think I want to start.

I went to jail after having a taste of abstinance and having been part of a home group and feeling like part of a family. The day I walked into the court house for sentencing, I knew I wanted to get and stay clean.

Keep hoping and we'll all keep praying that his feet land on the path that suits his recovery best. As long as there is breath there is hope.

Our promise is that an addict, any addict can stop using, lose the desire to use, and learn a new way to live.

[Recoveree]

Narcotics Anonymous does not claim to have all the answers for every drug addict in every country/community, nor does NA believe that all other approaches to the problems associated with addiction are necessarily without merit.

We recognize that NA is but one organization among many addressing the problem of drug addiction/drug dependency. Our members have significant success in addressing their own addiction, but Narcotics Anonymous does not claim to have a program that will work for all addicts under all circumstances or that its therapeutic views should be universally adopted.

I hear there are people who can go it alone, but I have never met one and I certainly couldnt do it alone.

Richie

[bikewench]

I just had an aversion to facing life without a buzz...

hehehehe

good one Gooch..