This is the fourth edition of an ongoing series of real stories about addiction from ClickOnDetroit's readers.
Check back for more stories.
Recommended Videos
More:
If you would like to share your story, go here. You can remain anonymous.
My name is Craig Rhodes Sr., and I definitely don't want to be anonymous. I lived in Baltimore for years and struggled with heroin to the point of chronic addiction ... both of my children are now recovering addicts. My story is tragic but not unique to addiction in any way! I left my children alone and abandoned for years so I could feed my selfish and self-centered disease. I thought I finally made it when I moved to WV in 2001, after my release from a lengthy prison stay, but I would soon realize that abstinence is not recovery, and left untreated it would soon erupt like a boiling volcano! The county I moved to in WV was unknown to me then but now it's nationally known as the No.1 county in the United States for prescription pill overdose deaths. After struggling with oxycontin for 12 years, I finally found a solution: the fellowship of NA and AA. And I found I suffered from a severe spiritual malady, and once that was overcome my mind and body started to heal. I changed the way I was thinking. I recognized I had a fatal disease, but absolutely treatable! Now I've made this my life and passion to help others as it helps me like no other thing could ... I hope my story may touch just one person. It has helped me today sharing it with you!
-- Craig
I am a recovering heroin addict with a long history of drug abuse who turned it around. I am now on the path to obtaining a PhD in Psychology. I began using illicit drugs in 1992, when marijuana entered my life, and from there I experimented with LSD, mushrooms, and other psychedelics. I was a 3.8 GPA student who came from a good family, lived on Oakland Lake in Waterford, and was on track to go to college after graduation in 1994. Instead of college, I was in my first rehab in 1995 after a short stint with crack cocaine. My parents were appalled, after all, I was a "good" girl from the suburbs! It was when I was 22 that I first tried heroin with my then boyfriend, and future father of my son. I already had one child with the young man who introduced me to crack cocaine, whom I began to leave with my mother. I signed over guardianship of my son in 1998, and the next 12 years were a blur of jails, rehabs, drug houses, seedy motel rooms on Woodward, crime, and witnessing/experiencing things most people only see in the movies. I overdosed 4 times, being brought back by my boyfriend or Narcan when 911 was called. I was gone for over 5 minutes one time, adrenaline being shot in my neck to finally bring me back. I was arrested over 30 times for crimes like retail fraud, driving on a suspended license, and falsifying to a police officer. The last crime I committed in 2010 earned me an 18-month sentence in prison. It was there that I was put in a six-month intensive rehab called RSAT, and I believe it saved my life. After 9 other rehabs, I finally "got it,” and made the decision never to use again. I came home in May 2012 and began achieving the goals that I set one by one. In December 2012 I regained custody of both of my sons, one of which I signed over 11 years prior. I paid off my child support, and my license, which I owed $7,000 on. I met and married the man of my dreams who is also a recovering heroin addict. I went back to school, and I will graduate with a bachelor's degree in psychology in September 2017 — I maintain a 3.99 GPA. I was invited to serve on the Board of Directors of MiHope Michigan, a non profit organization that is geared toward helping those affected by the opiate epidemic and other drugs. I landed a great job as the Patient Care Coordinator at Clarity Detox (Eagle Advancement Institute) in West Bloomfield and will celebrate one year there in December. In April 2016 my husband and I attended the recovery coach training and became certified to help others in their recovery. I have taken a life fueled by drugs and addiction, and turned it into a beautiful story of recovery. I plan to one day have a PhD in psychology, after I complete my masters program for social work, so I can most efficiently help others find their way home. It is my dream to open a long-term rehab for women as the need is great for places where women can recover with their children. I have been beaten, raped, shot at, homeless, imprisoned, experienced multiple overdoses, and have been in many situations which I should not have made it out of — one of which jailed my assaulter for 30-plus years, and was known as one of the most heinous rape cases in Oakland County. Yes, God helped me through it all in order to fight hard for my fellow comrades, those that did not make it back, like my son’s father who died (date removed to maintain anonymity) from a methadone overdose, and those who are still struggling. I am close to the families that suffer right along with the addict. I am an advocate for their child. Today I live an amazing life, one that I never thought possible when sitting in my prison cell, reflecting on all that I had lost. I am so grateful for the miracle that was given to me, because living through the things I did is nothing short of a miracle.
-- Jamie
Share your addiction story (click here)
Contact administrator: