The way drug addiction started for me, was the need to feel accepted by my crowd of friends and peers. I always thought that drug addicts were those poor blokes on the road who had nothing to go back home to.

It all started off as fun and for a lark, as most things in life do. We had it all, a great job, a wonderful home, a great education, a warm bunch of friends and family who would stand by us. We had a great future staring back at us and life seemed real, gung-ho and bright.

This started off as weekend drinking as it was considered a regular part of distressing. After the hectic week at the corporate office putting in hours and hours with no time to even see the sunlight, and all that mattered in the advertising field in Michigan was the productivity.

One long weekend, a colleague and a friend suggested that a little extra might help one relax more. Alcohol was no longer the same effective drug that it used to be beforehand. The more we drank the less effective it became. Every weekend we were reaching out for more and more, before we realized that the efficacy of it was wearing off.

So, this particular weekend I popped in a happy pill that was handed over to me by my well meaning friend. This was the beginning. The experience that I had was extremely euphoric. The way I began to feel was, as though I could take the world on and everything seemed far brighter and sharper. The music began to sound like it never had before, the clarity was amazing. I felt totally relaxed and distressed began to feel that I could take the world on. The world of work, deadlines, projects to be completed, bosses, and pesky colleagues began to fade away in the background and in my mind, I was able to walk away from my troubles and never have to face them ever again.

The effect wore off the next morning, and I didn’t look or feel any worse for it. Unlike alcohol, there was no hangover and that was such a relief. Nevertheless, wish I had known what kind of darkness, I was spiraling myself into.

The next weekend, the pattern started forming and very soon it was deeply entrenched. And every week the little bit extra began to become more and more. Finally, I stopped attending parties and social gatherings where I knew that the happy pills would not be available. Alcohol no more had the same impact on me. It was no longer good enough to just have alcohol.

2 Comments

1.   Kecia Allton   |  Monday, 18 January 2010 at 3:07 pm

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2.   Thomasena Brenhaug   |  Saturday, 11 June 2011 at 1:21 am

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