HG Newsletter Issue: # 50

In This Edition:

“ I was 22 years in recovery when I asked for help from Higher
Ground Drug Rehabilitation Trust. I was a “dry drunk”. I didn’t
think there was anywhere in New Zealand for people like me
to get intensive help from a therapeutic community since I had not
relapsed. I was wrong. Higher Ground accepted me.
Being drug-free has been the most important thing to me on a
daily basis for many years now. My belief is that I would rather kill
myself than relapse. A friend took her own life when we were both 17
years drug-free. The difference between us was that she had stopped
attending meetings of a 12 Step fellowship. As one of her pallbearers,
I remember my feeling of gratitude that I was on the outside
of the coffin. I also knew that there but for the grace of God it could
have been me. I grew up the eldest of three girls in an immigrant Catholic family
where alcohol was frowned upon. Aspirin was reserved for extreme
emergencies only. I am not aware of any addiction in my family
history. I started stealing when I was about six years old because I
was angry at my sisters. It was an unexpected thrill and I now believe
it was my first active addiction.