It's no secret that substance use, addiction & poor mental health has taken too many lives.
Here there are a few people's stories relating to the negative impacts of their substance abuse. These cases have been collated from various places including online posts & own research including conversations with substance users.
These stories are depressing in nature.
In providing these we aim to offer true accounts of people's experience with substances that can be both realistically common & encouraging for someone struggling to abstain from taking illicit substances. Research finds that for some, seeing true stories such as these that resonates with them can help to support recovery. Possibly even deter someone from beginning all together.
If you do still find yourself struggling either with addiction or your mental health, please reach out to a medical professional who can help.
Sheās Really Here
My 20 year old daughter is a heroin addict and has chosen to live on the streets for two years. She texts with me occasionally and vaguely but rarely wants to see me, in spite of us being so very close.
Yāall....she wanted to spend the night!! I picked her up, took her by a hotel (Iām not an idiot) and brought her home. HOME.
She went to sneak to the bathroom and I asked her to please not hide or be ashamed because our love is unconditional. I watched my beautiful child mix a shot and do it at the kitchen table. As a Registered Nurse with 15 years in the ER, Iāve never witnessed anything so heartbreaking.
We briefly discussed the local methadone clinic and she would like to find out more when they open later.
But sheās here. In her bed. Asleep. She did not go to bed hungry, dirty or worried that her belongings would be stolen when she awakens. And if she decides to leave when the sun rises, Iāll have to be okay with that. But Iāve had HOURS with my precious daughter since 7pm yesterday and I will be eternally grateful.
This is my second son who passed away from an OD. My youngest passed on in 2006 from an OD. It's strange to read his posts now, but please bear with me. I have had 2 sons cross over from addiction. I have one other son left on this earth. Addiction is the most unbearable, narcissistic behaviour I have ever seen. I tried for years to help my son who just passed on. I even had him arrested so the state would get involved. To no avail...he had OD'd 3 times in the last 2 yrs but I was able to save him in time with Narcan. This last time, try as I might, I could not bring him back.
I have lost 2 of my children to addiction. I am 68 years old and my remaining years will be in mourning....my oldest son and grandson are the only reason I am still here. It is unbearable for me, but I will take it one day at a time. When you have this damned addiction disease, nothing means anything to the addict except to get high.
I beg you to consider the pain it creates to those who love you. I won't be having my golden years. I will spend what little time I have left in grief.
Think about what it does, please, to your mom, and get help. You can do it.
That's all I have to say. I am too sad to write anymore.
fuck all the time wasted, fuck waiting in parked cars for the man who said ā15 minā 2 hours ago, fuck lying to people you care about, fuck sneaking away to the bathroom all the time to get right, fuck not being able to go to the bathroom, fuck being afraid to check your bank account, fuck a negative bank account, fuck eating unhealthy, fuck all the shitty people you had to deal with, fuck the fixation on a chemical, fuck getting ripped off, fuck getting bunk shit, fuck getting good shit that you wonāt get again, fuck spilling or wasting your shit, fuck the panic that sets in when you run out of shit, fuck waking up needing a fix, fuck being absent, fuck canceling plans cause youāre sick, fuck not making plans cause youāre afraid youāll get sick, fuck losing friends, fuck destroying your sex drive, fuck all the money wasted, fuck not being able to spend money on the things that matter, fuck not being able to buy groceries, fuck not being able to go to the dentist, fuck not being able to fix up your home, fuck not being able to fix your car, fuck not being able to get people nice presents, fuck not caring when someone gets you a nice present, fuck selling things you care about, fuck owing people money, fuck being lazy, fuck neglecting your hobbies, fuck not advancing in or wrecking your career, fuck how others may have looked at you, fuck all the times failing to kick, fuck the sense of failure relapsing, fuck feeling hopeless, fuck suicidal thoughts, fuck the lack of self confidence, fuck worrying about legal troubles, fuck dry skin, fuck feeling bloated, fuck the lack of sleep, fuck being sick, fuck the cold sweats, fuck the chills, fuck runny noses, fuck sneezing fits, fuck restless legs, fuck stomach cramps, fuck puking, fuck diarrhea, fuck headaches, fuck not being able to feel music, fuck not being able to properly grieve, fuck not being able to feel happiness without it, fuck the thousands of other things iām forgetting to list in this rant.
fuck it all, iām good without it.
I made a post yesterday asking for prayers and wishful thoughts for my 23 year old son Jordan. We are saying goodbye to him tonight. He suffered a stroke due to endocarditis causing vegetation to grow on his heart, and a piece of it broke free and lodged in his brain causing a massive stroke that caused the left side of his brain to die. So he could be a shell of himself if he lived. We had to make the difficult decision, based on what Jordan wants and whatās best for him, to let nature take its course, and call Jordan home. Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes, and please keep my son in your thoughts. And for all active addicts, please get help. The impact it has on a family is tremendous. My 3 boys and one daughter, who are from 16-21, my wife, and myself are all devestated. Inconsolable. We tried and tried and tried to get him help, waited for him to hit his rock bottom, and it never came. Now we are all at our rock bottom. I lost friends to addiction, and a few family members, but never this close to home. As an addict, you think itāll never happen to you. Until it does. Addiction leaves nothing but a wake of destruction in its path, and itās not a movie. You canāt hit pause or rewind it back to a part that you like, or a time before the devestation. We all get one shot at this, at life, please donāt waste it. Get the help you need before itās too late, and you need the help you canāt get....
My beautiful, wonderful wife of 22 years died of an overdose last night. I have never loved nor will I ever love another so much. I lost my wife, the mother of our children, my lover and my best friend to this insidious, horrible disease. If we dont stop using, we will eventually succumb to addiction. No one ever thinks it's going to happen to them. It can. RIP honey. I love you for all time.
Im only nineteen. And sheās only seventeen. and itās daunting to think eventually I will have lived most of my life without her than with her. To start, my sister started to become addicted to pills when Covoid began, she was around 14yrs old. Since then I have watched her be whisked away in an ambulance multiple times on the brink of death, iāve researched treatment centers and dropped her off at them, i supported my parents through trying so hard to save her. I basically started to become a second mother to her because we didnāt live with our dad and my mom worked so often. I tried so hard to save her, we all did. My dad and I found her together, some friends and I were going to stage an intervention that morning, and she was going to start living with my dad for a bit because my mom was so beat down from my sister relapsing, stealing, and lying. I can tell my father will never stop beating himself up for her having died in his home. i keep telling them, she takes street pills alone in bedrooms, she was constantly putting herself in this position and it could have happened anywhere, honestly including my own apartment . I knew her better than most people. She told me she was going to keep doing drugs until it killed her and she told me that just a couple months ago. so i find some peace in knowing that in a way she got what she wanted, peace and quiet. she was deeply troubled and had PTSD and bipolar disorder. After she passed, i started to really look at those baby photos and tell stories and i just, i realized maybe she was never meant to grow up. like a lost boy in peter pan. the older she got the more terrified of the world she became and she never had any interest in the parts of life that come with growing up, but i always did. she loved to be a kid, and i think when she felt like she had to start growing up the world became a place she didnāt want to live in. Itās now Tuesday, she passed on Friday and i just feel so numb but i miss her so much. It just brings me peace that she never has to grow up and will now be forever young, hopefully with her cat , of course im convincing myself thereās an afterlife. although iād give anything to have a chance at growing old with her. her and i were so close. but because of that i know she now has the peace shes craved so desperately . i just now have to take care of my parents, both of which have always had pretty fucked up mental health. if you have any advice on grief, supporting parents, or just idk, iād appreciate any words. i donāt know how to do this, everyday i just wake up, remind myself sheās gone, and i try my best. sheās always gonna be my beautiful baby sister, and iām always gonna miss her.
Ever heard of 'love at first sight'? I knew it was real the moment I met you. Your charm, your charisma, your amazing good looks & your insane level of intelligence. You really were perfect. I just wished you never touched those drugs.
My brother Adam died at the age of 23 years old in 2018. He lost the battle to addiction after seven years of being a drug addict.
I remember before I tried meth, I asked people what it was like. They said āitās like a burst of energy, a rush that takes your breath, itās the best feeling ever. I donāt know how to explain it really.ā And they were right. But now if someone were to ever ask me what itās like, I would tell them. Itās like giving your ENTIRE LIFE AWAY.