Addiction Stage 3

Stage 3: Risky Use and Abuse

Addiction is something that can progress so fast, you don't even realize how bad it is until it's too late. My sister’s drug addiction was at its worst about a year after she graduated high school. My whole family was so proud of her accomplishment of graduating, we believed the high school partying phase was over, but we were mistaken. She moved from weed and pills to taking oxycodone. After oxy she quickly moved to meth. This is the hardest part for me, knowing and even saying that my sister was a meth addict. She got really deep into the drug world, and was arrested multiple times. I always thought the jail time would straighten her out and she would be my sister again when she got out, but she just kept on her drug addicted path. She just finished serving a 6 month jail sentence for a probation violation and possession, which she was arrested for while still being in rehab. Right now she is in a new treatment center and seems to be doing better than ever. All my family can do now is hope and pray that her drug addiction is over; we would love your prayers and positive thoughts as well.

Thank you.

 

Here is a website article of one of my sister’s arrests, this will be on the internet forever, and she now realizes she won't be able to escape her past.

http://www.appeal-democrat.com/articles/meth-109570-yuba-drug.html

Addiction Stage 2

Stage 2: Regular Use

When my sister began to get more and more into drugs I didn’t see it as a huge issue, I figured that's just what people did in high school. At first, it would be a few of her friends smoking weed in our backyard after school. Of course my mom wasn't home, but since my sister wasn't the best at hiding things (she would leave a circle of chairs sitting in the backyard), my mom quickly attempted to squash that activity. As the smoking became more and more frequent she started doing other drugs as well. After a few months I realized that my sister was popping different kinds of pills every day at school. My mom tried her hardest, but couldn't put a stop to my sister's bad habits. Around the end of my sister’s sophomore year, she moved in with my dad. This gave me a ton or relief and I felt that I wouldn't have to lie for her anymore; I quickly discovered I was mistaken. My sister trusted me so much that she still told me everything she did; I now wonder if that was a cry for help from her. During this time I lost her as a sister, and our relationship quickly faded. Looking back, I can barely remember the good times with her, when she was actually sober.

Addiction Stage 1

Stage One: Experimentation

    

      The first stage, experimentation, is the voluntary use of alcohol or other drugs. With my sister this began her freshman year in high school. Since it seems to be a normal thing for teens to experiment a little in high school no one really thought of it as a big deal. It started out as smoking weed, which seems to be what everyone does, so my family didn't notice any red flags. A few months into her freshman year a close family friend passed away. He was only 19 and because of the sudden loss by suicide, we were all lost for a while. I was only in 6th grade, so although it profoundly affected me, it led my sister down a dangerous path. Because I was young, I didn't realize how dangerous her actions had become.

      With my mom being a single mother it was usually just my sister and I at home. Having all her friends over to smoke became the normal thing to me, and it didn’t seem like anything I should tell my mom about. Although, looking back on it now, I wish I had. As my sisters freshman year progressed so did her drug use. It turned from experimentation into a regular thing for her.

In my blog I’m going to be discussing my story of having a family member struggle with addiction. To give you a little background I’ll start by introducing the addict. Valerie is my older sister and has been my role model since we were younger. She is three years older than me, so she is currently 21. When we were super young our parents got divorced and my sister struggled with accepting that her whole life. During her freshman year in high school we lost a very close family friend to suicide, and her life started to quickly go downhill. Being her younger sister I was always her confidant and she told me everything. Trying to be a great little sister, I hid all her secrets for her. I know now that was not a good choice and I really could of helped her in the long run by just telling my mom what was happening. I enjoy sharing my story and helping others who also know people struggling with addiction. I hope my blog allows you to see how hard the struggle can be for others, and how it can make you as a family member stronger