Secunda woman kicks drug addiction and is clean for two years
“I lost a lot of weight and even some of my teeth.
Katherine* set a goal for herself that when she was 25 years old, she would stop using drugs.
When the time arrived however, she could not stop.
She spoke about how her struggle had begun.
“There was a death in our family and it was a relative who was very close to me.
“It was right after that when my addiction habits began to surface.
“I was only 13 and I began to drink alcohol.
“I later experimented with drugs.”
Drugs and alcohol were easily accessible, because someone always had an older brother who could get some.
“When I was in high school, I began to lie about where I was going to sleep over.
“I would sneak out of the house just to use drugs.
“I wanted to escape the pain.”
One thing led to another and drugs became more important than anything else.
Katherine soon realised that no matter where she went or to which school she went, she could always find someone who used drugs or sell it.
In Grade12, she found what addicts call their drug of choice.
Hers was Cat.
Cat is a slang name for the stimulant drug methcathinone.
It can be snorted or inhaled and is highly addictive.
The side effects are similar to those of cocaine: euphoria, increased alertness, anxiety, hallucinations, delusions and paranoia.
“I thought I had it under control, but I slipped school just to use drugs.
“When I went to university, I would take just enough stash with that would last me a week.
“I wanted to limit my usage, but soon the drugs that were supposed to last me as week, were finished after three days.
“It was then that I realised I could not live without it.”
At 25, her addiction had already changed her moral values and gave her a form of insanity in that she kept doing the same thing but expected different results each time.
“I became completely isolated.
“When I got invited to parties or events, I did not want to go because I did not know how or where I would be able to use my drugs while I was there.
“I lost a lot of weight and even some of my teeth.
“I lost everything.
“It left me with a broken spirit and took away my hopes and dreams.”
Katherine was in and out of rehab, but found that Narcotics Anonymous was the only that truly helped her to quit and stay clean.
She has now been clean for more that two years and managed to little by little re-build her life.
If you know of anyone who needs help or if you need help, you can contact Narcotics Anonymous at any of these numbers: 083 581 0410, 083 286 3457 and 079 654 0829.
*Name was changed to protect the identity of the person.
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