The path my life took into addiction looking back may have started at birth. Parents in an unhappy relationship, mother with post natal depression with me picking up on anxiety in the household.

At the age of 9 parents separated then father died from Bowel cancer when I was 15. By this time I was already taking drugs and drinking to fit in with my peers, these peers, like myself, were not coping with life without a substance to avoid reality.

From this point my addiction would swap and change; it wasn’t always a substance, gambling also took over my life for about 5 years, and when I managed to stop one addiction another would replace it.

For so many years I thought I could control it, I was wrong. I had already lost my mortgage, jobs, relationship and then the class ’A’s got me Heroin and Cocaine. My life fell apart; I couldn’t cope with life anymore. I was physically and mentally broken, I needed help. I’d been in prison 9 times thinking to myself each time, this time I will stay clean. It never happened. I was crying out for help not knowing which way to turn, and then I heard about the BAC (Burton Addiction Centre).

My life has now changed so much, I’m 1 year clean, and I’ve found a balance in my life mentally, physically and spiritually. The BAC Programme has helped me to look at my past, given me tools to cope with in the future and every issue in my life has been looked at with support from the BAC.

The programme consists of:-

Phase 1 – 14 weeks Therapy
You can live in or day care therapy. You get one to one’s, groups and holistic therapy.  All of this gave me the chance to talk about and off load all of my problems, fears and anxieties. Also being able to use the gym 3 times per week and eating a healthy diet supplied in house.

Phase 2 – 4 weeks resettlement.
This helped me with living skills, everything was looked at like budgeting, debts, pathways to work and again one to one and holistic therapy.

Phase 3 – Graduation / Supported housing 3-6 months.
This has given me the chance to ease my way back into society and set up stability and structure taking a lot of pressure off going back into the real world. I’ve got college and voluntary work and have secured a flat with the local housing authority all supported by the BAC.

Phase 4 – Living Independently
This involves a 2 year aftercare programme which consists of meeting with a support worker once a week to help me cope with reintegration into the community. They help with issues such as housing, money, social and independent living skills, more importantly its vital one to one support.

Aftercare treatment consists of Tuesday evening and Saturday morning support groups.

This whole programme has given me a purpose and meaning to my life. I feel, I have a sense of direction along with structure to enable me to achieve my goals.

Frank
Age 39 years