What recovery means to me
Former addiction treatment clients at Priory Hospital Bristol discuss the support they received and what recovery from addiction means to them.
“I didn’t really know what was wrong with me so I just kept doing the same things over and over again, and chaos always followed. So once I found out that there is a way out of this, it gave me hope and it gave me a purpose. My health has improved, my serenity has improved, my family’s health and serenity improved. I don’t take them hostage anymore, or give them sleepless nights. I got their trust back. I’m reliable and I just love life and I love being with everybody around me now” – Paul*, former addiction client at Priory Hospital Bristol.
“Recovery means to me - happiness, freedom and family. Re-establishing relationships with my husband, sisters and children, having a second chance at that. Actually attending my daughter’s wedding, actually being trusted by my son to watch my grandchildren – that means so much to me. Freedom from the obsession of waking up every day wondering where I was going to get my next drink from. Having the freedom to make choices, living one day at a time, living in the moment – that’s what recovery means to me” – Jane*, former addiction client at Priory Hospital Bristol.
“I didn’t have any ambition, I had lost motivation, I had severed a lot of connections with friends and family and I just was in a generally lonely place. Working on myself, I’ve been able to focus on my fitness, I’ve been able to build connections with new people, genuine connections, I’ve been able to get back into work, I’ve got promotions through work, I’m now a team leader and just generally, getting a higher opinion of myself” – Rob*, former addiction client at Priory Hospital Bristol.
“Recovery for me is, simply put, the most valuable thing in my life. Before recovery, I didn’t really have a life that I particularly wanted, and used drugs and substances in a way that was really destructive. I just didn’t really know any better. Today, I have a really loving, caring relationship with myself and this has enabled me to have deep and meaningful and caring relationships with my family and friends and people in my day-to-day life. Today, I really love and care about myself in a way that I could only have imagined before” – Martin*, former addiction client at Priory Hospital Bristol.
“Unfortunately, addiction is one of the few illnesses that comes along with delusion or denial, and I was loaded with denial. I really did not want to be an addict, an alcoholic. On my darkest days, I say to myself “I’m above ground and I’m sober”, and when I say that, the awesomeness of that statement just gets me. In my darkest days in my addiction, I would wake and especially in the winter, I didn’t know if it was 4 o’clock in the afternoon or 4 o’clock in the morning. And that’s the difference now. I have the gifts; I have the gifts of being present, being there for my family, I have freedom. I can do anything, anything now. I’ve been given the ability to repair the damage that I made with my family. My recovery ripples out into it and my family’s been repaired over a period of time, and continues to be repaired” – Maggie*, former addiction client at Priory Hospital Bristol.
*Clients’ names have been changed to protect confidentiality.