Abstinence. Personal Empowerment. Support. Inclusiveness. www.freestylerecovery.org.
Serenity in Long-Term Recovery
Many of us former addicts first turned to drug and alcohol abuse as a coping mechanism. Often this was in high school or even before, and often it was in response to emotional distress. Emotional abuse including neglect by our families (and perhaps by addict parents) is a common theme, as is emotional abuse by our schoolmates. Perhaps it escalated to physical and sexual abuse. Perhaps it was simply puberty, and the emotional upheavals that can accompany it. Those of us who just fell into addiction may have an easier time climbing back out of the hole and staying out of it, but for many of us we need to not only quit taking the drugs, we need to develop new coping strategies for emotions that we aren't accustomed to feeling and dealing with.