We are a group of parents, spouses, siblings, friends, and we all have someone we care about who has a problem with drugs and/or alcohol. In the hope we can help make your journey a little less lonely and a lot more hopeful, we share with you our stories…
Angela’s Story
My son was 17 when we began to notice he was “different”. Interestingly, he knew he was “different” from his peers too, but we didn’t learn that until much later. He started smoking marijuana halfway through Year 12 at school and we learnt later that this was his way of self-medicating as he was being bullied. He never felt that he fit in and so from a very early age he was the “class clown” and just wanted to be accepted as part of his peer group all the way through school….Read Angela’s Story
Kathy’s Story
Our journey began when our son was around the age of 14 although we believe some life events may have challenged him at intermediate which contributed to his journey. He started with marijuana, then ecstasy (as a party drug) then meth. By the time he was 18 our family was in crisis. We believed we had tried everything (we now know we hadn’t)…Read Kathy’s Story
Sarah’s Story
As a child, my daughter Hannah was a sweet and loving girl, some may say a high-achiever. During her pre-teen years we recognised her tendency towards perfectionism. It was this perfectionism which, at the age age of 14, lead her into the grasping tentacles of anorexia nervosa. As anorexia took hold she refused to eat with the family, declined most family outings and became withdrawn to the point of reclusiveness….Read Sarah’s Story
Patrick’s Story
My wife and I married in 1974 and moved into our house in Hawera. She often tried to stop me from going to work because she felt she couldn’t cope. My work suffered because I feared she would commit suicide while I was away. She became pregnant and the depression got worse after our first baby. The doctors called it post-natal depression…Read Patrick’s Story
A Letter From A Father
Dear Addict, Thank you for the things you have taught me for which I am now grateful. I have gone from being overwhelmed by it to living with it. In order to achieve this I took back control by accepting full ownership, recognising self-defeating patterns in my thinking, …. Read the Letter