"My Journey"

My name is xxx, and I am an addict. Nine seemingly simple words, but probably the most difficult words I’ve ever had to speak in my life. And it is thanks to Inclusion that I was able to finally vocalise these words.

I have always had an addictive nature, or personality. Whether that be with chocolate as a child, cigarettes, alcohol or harder substances, I always seemed to crave more, never really knowing when to say ‘no’. Such is addiction. It is the disease of ‘more’. I suppose I always knew I had a problem controlling my need for ‘more’, but it wasn’t until February 2022 when this realisation came to a head. I was admitted to a psychiatric hospital, after a particularly heavy and prolonged binge on crack cocaine. It was fair to say that I was truly in crisis. It was this admission to hospital, and the subsequent intervention from Inclusion that finally made me take a conscious decision to turn my life around.

It was whilst I was in hospital, that I made a self-referral (with the help of hospital staff) to Inclusion, Isle of Wight. It was a difficult phone call to make, but one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. Two days after making the call, the lovely Inclusion nurse, Marina, came to see me on the ward. She spent a good couple of hours with me, discussing at length the exact nature of my substance misuse, historically and at the current time. I remember it being an emotional, yet truly positive conversation, one of which helped me embark on the best period of my life.

When I was discharged from hospital a few weeks later, I had in place a comprehensive support network of a key worker and recovery peers at Inclusion that facilitated my structured treatment program. This consisted of group work, community led peer groups, one-to-one sessions with my key worker, and general support to allow me to flourish and beat my addictions. I will forever be indebted to the wonderful staff at Inclusion, and am so very grateful for the precious time and effort invested by all the team into my recovery. If it were not for the support and motivation for change that naturally followed, I dread to think where I may be now. For it was that encouragement from the inclusion staff and peers that allowed my to realise that I wanted sobriety and abstinence for myself, for a better, calmer and more tranquil life.

So THANK YOU to all of the wonderful people at inclusion, I am so grateful for my recovery and my sobriety. I am now in the fortunate position of being able to volunteer and offer my lived experience and knowledge to help others in their recovery journey. This is probably the most rewarding aspect of my recovery, and I am forever thankful for the opportunity to help others, as I have been helped so very much by Inclusion.