The Journey of a Loved One

My son was 16 when he got involved with drugs;

He rapidly became immersed in the scene, leaving home and going missing for 2 years. At 18 he reappeared and seemed to settle down in a relationship, got a job and had a baby.

I thought the troubles were over but no, he carried on taking drugs, his behaviour was erratic and he quickly got into debt with the dealers. He would frequently come to me for money, I thought I was helping him by paying off his debts but all I was doing was helping him further into addiction. I made GP appointments for him, he refused to attend; I organised detox, he turned it down. Everything I tried to put in place for him was declined. After years of being used and abused by my son, I realised I had to take a step back for my own mental health.

Finally, after 15 years, my son rang me in the early hours of the morning, begging for help. I thought it was yet another of his manipulative calls, but TACT organised detox for him… and he went, they set up rehab which he went to and finally, I had my son back! I now work at TACT, supporting families of addicts as I found there was little available help when I was going through this and there is nothing better that speaking to someone else who has been through it