I am not an expert or a psychiatrist but a plain alcoholic, have been an alcoholic since I think beginning of time; if I were to jog along my memory lanes, I can clearly recall that I had first tasted my poison at the age of 18 .I had just started college, it was an era of independence, fun and liberation. By the time I became 30 I was a mess .I had gone through a lot of turmoil in my life from being fired, to broken relationships, to being tried for a credit card lawsuit. This was the path of destruction I had chosen.
But fortunately for me I had parents who still loved me in spite of all my follies. Their effort to save their son’s life got me in a rehab centre in delhi. I received treatment and was discharged after 3 long months of imprisonment. I was under an illusion that now I was sorted and this was it. I took my sobriety lightly and hence the forecast of my relapse came true. The second time around I could see my problems clearly. It was disease which I was in grip of. Disease which is sitting dormant right under your nose and one wrong step and you had it. It comes back with a vengeance. I know we addicts are living a delusion, that we can control our substance abuse and we know it all but that is not the case. I wrote this information from my ongoing efforts to remain clean.
Addiction is a disease, from which recovery is difficult but not unattainable. The road to recovery is bumpy with lot of obstacle. After years of sobriety a person can have a relapse and get back in the vicious cycle of addiction. A person in recovery has to take his sobriety seriously and make a conscious choice to work in a positive direction with one aim in mind.
The craving for substance persists long after patient stops using. He may get tempted on more than one occasion to go back to his previous life of intoxication but there are few recommended changes if a person can bring to his life probably the risk of a relapse can become minimal.
These points have helped me to remain sober and I hope they will benefit my friends on path to recovery.
Author: Aniket Sharma ,a patient at Tulasi Health Care in Delhi.
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