drug addiction

[jokers_kick]

I've got this friend, I'll call her crystal, we've known each other since middle school, her, my friend elysha and I were unseprable. Anyways, all three of us started doing drugs in our freshman year of highschool. It wasn't a big deal to us, just something fun for the weekends. I realized my problems had gotten bigger and I quit less than a year after I started, same with one elysha. Anyways, crystal kept on going. She hadn't tried to quit at all. Her brother was a dealer, so the drugs were constantly around her. Elysha and I were always worried about her, wanting her to get help, but scared that if we tried anything, she would rat us out. Recently I found out on her livejournal that her brother went to jail because of it, and I just didn't say anything. Later that week I received a text message from crystal saying horrible things to me that I didn't understand, since I hadn't talked or seen her in a couple weeks. I ignored it, just dismissing it as a drug addicts ramblings. Don't get me wrong, I still cared about her, and she still was one of my best friends, but I learned to live with it. I tried to talk to elysha about it, who is still my best friend, and she was really hostile towards me when it came to crystal. I tried to talk to her about her whole brother and drug issue and she told me that she had talked to crystal and that crystal said that she didn't want me to know anything and she never wanted to talk to me agian. I didn't get it, I still don't, because I know that it isn't because of how I used to do drugs with her, it just came out of nowhere.

Anyways, I found out from her livejournal again that she is in rehab, but she finds it completely useless and that she misses "it" and her brother. I feel HORRIBLE, because I introduced her to some things that I totally regret...and I'm glad that she's getting help, but I don't see it helping her in the least. Apparently she's physically, and mentally drained and unhealthy. I don't know what to do.

end of rant.

 

[kimmy]

DON'T blame yourself for any of it. whether you introduced her to some or all of it or anything in between, it's not your fault she's in this position. it ws her own choice. and in her brother's case, it was his choice. that's all there is to it.

second, i know where you're coming from on some of this. an old friend of mine was checked into rehab today for heroin. he overdosed last night and was rushed to the hospital. he started using pot when we were in 8th grade. in the middle of our sophomore year, he was shot in the head (yes, seriously. thankfully he survived, with only moderate memory loss), soon after he began using more hardcore narcotics like X, special K and heroin.

we lost contact for a while and when we sort of got back into contact, he just didn't want to talk to me at all. it's still beyond me as to why. i think it's just a thing when you get that deeply involved in something so detramental, it makes you lash out randomly...usually on the people who you know will still be there fr you after the fact.

i'm sorry you're dealing with this, it's not an easy thing to work through, but you can do it. stay strong nat, and don't blame yourself for anything

 

[bAbY_cHiCkEn01]

You can't blame yourself... unless of course you FORCED her to take the stuff she has taken (which I presume you wouldn't do). She chose to abuse the drugs in the way that she did, nobody can be blamed but herself.

Drugs make you do crazy things, and I know how addictive it can be, and the feeling you get is amazing. But some people choose to take it further... Seeing as she is in rehab, you need to be a friend more than ever, because its going to hard when she gets out, and could easily slip into bad habits again. Just continue to be a friend as she may lose/have lost a lot as some people are so forgiving when it comes to things like this. She may be lashing out at you because you were so close (and people can lash out even more to the closest ppl to them), and she probably doesn't mean and it could be the drugs if you get what I mean...

Hope you guys sort everything out, this is a hard time for you I'm sure... As Anthem said, stay strong and don't blame yourself under any circumstance...

 

[YvetteJeannine]

Just curious...what kind of drugs was/is she doing????

 

[jokers_kick]

Ugh. It turns out she was stretching the truth, as she does a lot. It turns out her brother is in rehab, not her. She's not going to let me be a friend to her, since it changed her so much. I can't talk to her while she's on drugs, I can't talk to anyone when they're on drugs for that matter haha. It's just a nasty thing I don't want to be involved in.

She can have her methamphetamine, I'll stick to midol.

 

[giz2000]

I did my "time" at a drug rehab...as a drug counselor. I spent my first year out of grad school working with drug addicts of every age and financial background. The crack and crystal addicts were the toughest to get through to. When I first started, I thought I was going to change everyone and get them to stop using drugs....I was sooooo incredibly wrong. An addict needs to recognize they have a problem first in order to quit. Guess what? Most will deny their drug problem to the very end. In reality, a small percentage of people in rehab stay clean for an extended period of time (it IS possible, but very, very difficult to completely quit)...some relapse as soon as they leave the rehab doors. They'll score on their way home. That's just how it goes.

Please don't feel guilty over something that is totally out of your control. You may have introduced her to some things, but she chose to continue them. In this case, as hard as it may be, you need to let her "hit bottom." Hopefully, she'll realize she has a problem and get help before it's too late.

 

[spencoh]

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