The Truth About Addiction

Growing up in Frankston Victoria in a ‘broken home’, Mark thought he was the poison that ruined the good things in life. He didn’t know how to talk about it as a kid, so started to look for things outside of himself to change the way he felt. Mark found it in crime. As Mark got older, he couldn’t stop looking for the feel-goods. It progressed with alcohol, drugs, violence, women etc… 

Mark stayed clean since his very first meeting in Narcotics Anonymous in 2008. He is now 14 years in recovery.

Mikaela grew up in Melbourne in an area where ‘it was common to start drinking at an early age’.  As a 12 year old, Mikaela experienced uncontrollable drinking and mostly struggled in school. She was frustrated, angry, lost and unmanageable. She barely finished year 9.

Mikaela first went to rehab at the age of 17 and was in and out of Narcotics Anonymous the last 10 years, though never worked the program during that time. She even lost her job as a nurse for using while at work. Now at 10 months clean, Mikaela dreams of being able to help people in addiction recovery and mental health. 

Donna started using as a young child, and for a very long time she thought it was normal from a social aspect. In her late teenage years, Donna started to notice that her using was getting heavy, she was always the last to leave, the one to always turn up with drugs and never wanted it to end. 

There were many breakdowns in her relationships with others and she felt her self esteem was slipping away. Donna got married, though sadly used throughout her pregnancy, and during the first 9 years of her son’s life. She attended various facilities to get clean, but it never lasted long.

Donna is now 4 years clean. Her son is also proudly 2 years clean. Listen to Donna tell her story as a mother and an ex-addict.

Glen grew up in Melbourne in a ‘fairly’ normal family environment. He was introduced to drugs as early as 12 years old, then he started using heroin and was in and out of prison over the next 10 years. 

In 2004, Glen ended up in rehab, but he was lost without support and a program to work on. Within a couple of months, he was back in the habit and back to jail. While he was in jail, Glen’s sister began her recovery journey and became clean; she used to come and ‘carried the message’ during her visits. Glen witnessed what his sister had after getting clean; she was healthy and happy, and he wanted what she had. That was ‘the beginning of the end’ for him. 

Glen is now 9 and a half years clean. 

From her own words, Hales and her twin sister were ‘created during active addiction by dysfunctional addicts’. Hales’ mother and I met in rehab, where she was born and spent her first couple of early years of life. Hales knew about drugs and addiction more than any other kids at her age, growing up surrounded by recovering addicts, attended NA meetings on a regular basis and felt that as a little child, was ‘comfortable’ being where she was, amongst the chaos.

Coming up to 15 years clean, listen to Haley tell the story of her turning points, and how she came to be where she is today, a proud mother, a remarkable head nurse at a private rehab clinic, getting married next year and leading an absolutely amazing life.  

Dylan, from the band Sailing In Space at Sunshine Coast, Qld. 

When Dylan’s father passed away at 9 years of age, he did not cope. He lived in made up fantasies to deal with reality and acted out on his addictive tendency. He struggled with self worth and lacked motivation to bring himself and his music out there. 

On the day of doing our podcast, Dylan was 29 days clean. Thing were changing rapidly right after he started on his recovery journey, in the most positive lights. Dylan loves his only brother dearly. Together they have done over 100 shows and produced out of this world music.

@sailinginspaceofficial

Chris’ artworks are unique, provoking and powerful, with a focus on existentialism. The purpose is to articulate feelings through visual, so when he felt something, he put it on canvas. As he was building his works, he shifted to more unconventional themes such as substance abuse, male depression state of mind… 

Chris started drinking at the age of 15 and found that “alcohol was the answer to all problems”. He relied heavily on alcohol as the solution to anything he felt lacking at the time. He couldn’t see life without alcohol. 

During his second DIY, he was sent to jail, where he had nothing but to focus on his ability to draw. He had a reputation of being a really good artist then, doing drawings for other inmates. 

Chris attended therapy sessions and realised that he had to learn to be sober for the rest of his life. ‘I had this illness, I had this disease’ - Chris. 

In our video version of this chat, Chris shown us and offered detailed meanings on his artworks. You can watch this through our Youtube channel. 

Follow @chris_sellers_art
https://www.chrissellersart.com/

Eleanor believes that she was suffering from the disease of addiction before she even started using drugs. She hated the fact that her parents were alcoholics, so when she turned 18 ,she didn’t drink. She went to university, got a good job, got on with life like a ‘normal’ kid, but still felt depressed, alone, and “like it’s just never enough”.

Started drinking at the age of 20, she also started stripping. Eleanor was introduced to drugs then, and within a couple of months, she knew she was an addict. She couldn’t stop. She was always struggling with life, and had multiple suicide attempts.

Eleanor’s Mum supported her to go to rehab, and she attended her first NA meeting, where she realised that there are other people who also had the same problem, whom could talk about their addiction so openly and honestly. She felt accepted. She wasn’t so alone then.

Eleanor is now coming up to 1 year clean. She is proud, happy and ready to take on the world. 

109 days sober from alcohol on the day of recording, this is the first time Beats shares his story of addiction on a public platform, as he believes in passing on the message to help people. 

Beats talks about family, experiencing drugs in school, being a functioning ‘junkie’, going to university and his light bulb moment. Beats is now a happy, wonderful family man, with an immense passion to help others through his disability and youth support work, while organising fund-raising events for men with alcohol problem. 

@The_Get_Down_Podcast_Au

Brett, a proud Wakka Wakka man from the majestic Bunya Mountains, South Burnett region. When Brett first went to a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, he was the only Indigenous there. That was Friday night, 1/1/1999. 

Now over 23 years clean, Brett still attends at least 2 meetings a week to share his story and his gains, to make sure other recovering addicts understand and practice ‘the message’.