Chris

My name is Chris. I’m 28 years old, the father of two and a heroin addict. I started using drugs when I was 14 with dagga and alcohol. That soon led to ecstasy and cocaine. By the time I left school and began working as a bartender I was heavily involved in the growing off and distributing high quality marijuana between Cape Town and Jozi. I was also selling other drugs like LSD, mushrooms, 2ci, 2cb and MDMA mainly at outdoor trance parties. I had a big group of friends all involved in the same thing and there was allot of money involved and with money come parties and drugs and alcohol. I used all the drugs that were available to me but became bored and wanted something new. At the time I was using coke everyday and drinking and I started mixing heroin with for an extra kick. Soon the coke became too expensive so I just used the heroin. Then I was shnarffing the Thai. This lasted about 4 years then I started smoking. During this time I did try to control my usage especially when my kids were born but failed. I even went to a couple of very overpriced rehabs in the Cape Town area but that did nothing for me. By now I had lost the respect of my family, had got involved in crime to support my habit and was in danger of losing my children. Then I began injecting heroin. Before I realized it I was I was at deaths door. I hated myself. Before I was admitted to FBTCC I suffered two overdoses and almost died. My father had to break down the bathroom door to get to me. The other time I OD’d in a club and I was resuscitated by paramedics. I decided that I had two choices, recovery or death. I arrived at FBTCC an angry sick person with little or no hope but my views soon changed. After the drugs were out of my system things started looking up. I felt at home here with people who had similar stories and who didn’t judge me for the things in my past. My self confidence came back, my health came back, I learnt about myself and my addiction and how to live my life without drugs. I learnt that there is hope and that anything is possible if you really want it. I’m now 6 months clean, my relationships with my family is growing stronger every day, I’m happy and healthy and look forward to my future and this is all thanks to my 2nd family at FBTCC. If you feel you are in trouble and need help with your addiction this is the place to be, that I can tell you!

Fé

Hello, my name is Fé, I’m 24 and I’m a recovering addict. Since the age of 14 years, I’ve been indulging in narcotics and alcohol. From a young age I’ve always been in trouble at school, mixing with the wrong people and going against everything my mom tells me. Smoking marijuana and doing ecstasy was how things started in high school. By the time I was at tech, I was smoking rocks every weekend. I spent every dime I had on it. I stole almost everything of value out my mothers’ house. At the age of 19, I was introduced to my drug of choice, TIK. It fitted perfectly into lifestyle at the time as it was a great way to sober up after a heavy night of drinking. I smoked every weekend for about 3years. It became part of who I was. I lost a lot of good people in my life. I let go of everyone that was not a benefit to me financially. By the time I was 22, I only had acquaintances that did what I did. At this time I also started smoking mandrax, marijuana was no longer enough to keep me balanced. I now enjoyed the ups and downs of my using. Living at home and being in and out of jobs, every opportunity I got to take something from someone that was of value to me, I took it. I didn’t even feel anything when I did this, only that I was 1 step closer to my next fix.
Things got really bad at home, where everyone now knew I was a thief and my mom had no other choice but to ask me to move out. She couldn’t handle having all her hard work end up at pawn shops. Living on my own was where I really felt how hard it was to maintain the lifestyle of a drug addict. Having rent, bills, loans, credit cards, along with a demanding drug habit, I didn’t earn enough. So for about 4-6 months I was broke by the 2nd week of every month and selling what I owned to get thru the month. I had now been using every day for the 2 straight years and spending R300-R500 a day. Each and every one of those days, I didn’t want to be where I was, kept promising myself I’m going to stop, but it never lasted for longer than 12 hours.
December of 2009 I was AWOL from work for weeks and inevitably lost my job. I was no longer able to maintain the image that I was doing well. The day came where I spoke to God; I knew what I had to do. I took a hard look at my life and compared it to the life I was letting everyone think I was living. They were 2 completely different things. I was broke, alone, in debt, a criminal, a loafer and I was crying out from the inside for some guidance on a way out.
So I went home and exposed myself to my family! The hardest thing I ever had to do. I remembered that the choices my mom made for me always worked out compared to the choices I’ve made over the past 10 years. So I surrendered everything I was over to her.
I was booked into False Bay Therapeutic Community Centre for 2 months. Here, was where I learnt how life can go on without the use of any drugs or mind altering substances. I felt things I never thought I’d feel without a fix. Within 2 months I gained things like self pride, confidence, an appetite, feelings, hope, and trust in God. I found out that sobriety was an amazing journey and couldn’t wait to start. After leaving treatment to go back home, I started implementing the tools I learnt into my everyday life. It was difficult, however, rewarding in so many extraordinary ways.
Clean and sober for 6 months, I’ve changed in so many ways and getting to know who I am. I’ve gained trust from my family members and developed awesome relationships with them; I know them and they’re starting to know me too. I’m making responsible, good choices now. I have a trusting relationship with my higher power which gets me through most of my day. I can honestly say that after tasting the joys of sobriety, I have no reason to pick up a drug or any mind altering substance again...