Saving Your Child from Addiction

If I were going to save my child from a life of addiction, I’d tell her how much I love her, how proud I am of her and no matter what she does, I will always love her… to the moon and back.

I would start telling her this early. I would tell her what drugs are and what they do to the body, mind and spirit. I would be really clear that all drugs, including alcohol, affect the body the same way and create damage. Because even with all the confusion out there about what THC and Cannabinol do in terms of any possible psychological effects, everyone agrees that there are unhealthy side-effects of every drug.

I would tell my child that drug residues stay in the fatty tissues of the body for a long time and that when you use drugs over time, those toxins accumulate and can make the body operate poorly or get sick. I’d teach her that brain tissue is one of the most highly concentrated areas of fat in the body and ask her to consider if it would be good if her brain had a bunch of toxins stored in it and if it would work better or worse than the brain of someone who had clean tissues.

I would practice being a good listener. I would talk with my daughter and ask her one question at a time and then let her answer me and listen. I would not barrage her questions, unable to answer any of them. It’s such a simple skill, but vital to building a good, safe speaking relationship.

I would let her know if she ever needed help with drugs or alcohol related issues, I would always be there for her. No matter what she’s done, she would always have a “get out of jail free” card with me as long as she was willing to work out how she could make up the damage.

I would tell her even if it happened again and again and again, I would never give up.

I would find a real solution. I would look for a treatment program that made practical sense of addiction; a program that didn’t substitute one drug for another.

I would search to find a program that got her drug free for life!

I would find a program that addresses both the physical and mental parts of addiction. I would go visit that program and talk to the staff and participants and parents whose child had gone there.

I would look for a program that was state certified and whose medical director was an addictionologist. I’d look for a program that had 24/7 nursing and had around the clock staff who would take care of her the way I would; a place with staff who treated them like a human being, nurturing them through the worst of their withdrawal symptoms, getting them to a place where they knew they could kick this thing and never have to return.

I would look for staff who have dedicated their life to helping people get off drugs.

I would find one of them who had similar troubles with the same drug and have them talk with her. I would find out how they measure success, what my child’s chances are and how they follow up with their graduates.

I would see the program for myself and not listen to what anyone else says. I would look for results.

Then I would tell her:

“We are going to take you to Narconon. It’s a place where you can end your addiction and find YOU again, where you will have time to find out why you started to use drugs and learn how to never use drugs or alcohol to solve your problems.”

I would tell her:

“As parents, we are not perfect, we don’t know everything. We don’t know if you are ready to get clean and stay clean, but if you no longer want to be a slave to your addiction and want to get your own life back, we have found a place that can help you do that!”

Then I would take her to start her drug-free life. To begin a new future, not live in a continuous roller coaster to hell.

I would tell her I love her.

I do that every day.

Yvonne Rodgers—Narconon Suncoast Staff Member