6 Months Later—Why My Narconon Program Worked
When I came to Narconon I didn’t know what I had left to offer in life. I had been to countless treatment centers and relapsed equally as much. I always knew I wasn’t living the way I was meant to, and I always felt like there was another path for me that was within my reach. That made it even more frustrating each time I failed to stay clean. It wasn’t the fact I had no way out, it was the fact I knew deep down I was choosing to live the way I was living because I wasn’t willing to give up getting high, despite all of the damage and repercussions that came with my addiction. There was one thing I knew to be clear before deciding to go to treatment again and it was that I needed to do it right this time.
No more 28-day programs, no more doing it for show, no more excuses. I decided I was going to give it everything I had and get it done no matter the sacrifice and no matter the amount of time it took. Fortunately for me, this new mindset was also accompanied by a program vastly different than my most recent attempts at treatment. An approximately 90-day program with a step-by-step approach to becoming drug-free, with each part of the program allowing an individual to make discoveries about themselves that are unique to each person, but tailor-made to help a person overcome addiction.
One of those steps in the program is the New Life Detoxification, which involves a dry heat sauna intended to purge the drugs out of the body once and for all. I remember leaving previous treatment centers after an extended stay that lasted less than a month, and even after a few weeks of not using I still never felt like myself when leaving. In hindsight, it’s very easy to see why it was so difficult to stay clean. In the past when leaving treatment, my body would still feel beaten and battered from my addiction, and it would often feel like I was hanging on by a thread simply because of the way I felt, both physically and mentally. These lingering effects of drug abuse would, in my experience, continue until the inevitable relapse that had been my groundhog day. After doing the sauna in the New Life Detoxification I felt refreshed, energized and new again. It made the prospect of being clean—what once felt like the impossible task of pushing the rock up the mountain only to see it repeatedly fall to the bottom—exciting and full of new possibilities.
Now that I had my vitality and thirst for life back in full force, I was ready to make changes—real changes. I didn’t need any more lessons on what kind of behavior my addiction caused. I was already well-versed with plenty of experience in the drug department and the type of person I became when driven by addiction. Addiction is nasty and my behavior on drugs was deplorable. I already knew that and was aware of how much I hated myself when using. What I was searching for was very simple. I wanted to live in a way where I didn’t want or feel the need to use drugs. I wanted to work on myself, make changes that didn’t involve my life as an addict but were going to impact the way I lived off the drugs. Part of that did involve finding and taking responsibility for my actions as an addict and repairing the relationships damaged by said actions. But in taking responsibility for my past I found the lessons that were hidden underneath—the teachings on how I wanted to start living now.
“Today I don’t consider myself an addict. I don’t live like an addict, I don’t behave like an addict, and I don’t use drugs like an addict. I have freed myself from the grip of addiction and it’s no longer a part of my life…”
During my Narconon program, I was able to morph from a person obsessed with failure, mistakes, and a regretful past into a person with confidence, excitement, and a smile some would call contagious and others mildly annoying. Truth be told, I don’t much care which effect my smile has on other people because my smile comes from the peace and happiness that I have found within myself. It’s genuine. It’s a product of not just living without drug addiction, but one in which I’m living a life that feels like the real me, not someone saddled by the weight and baggage of being an addict.
Today I don’t consider myself an addict. I don’t live like an addict, I don’t behave like an addict, and I don’t use drugs like an addict. I have freed myself from the grip of addiction and it’s no longer a part of my life and I’m now helping others find a similar yet wholly unique path of their own, also free from addiction. As awful as that time in my life once was, it led me on a path to where I am at now. That’s something I wouldn’t trade for the world.
Justin P.—Narconon Suncoast Graduate
