Adolescents Finding Recovery

I finally groped my way into recovery at the age of  51.  I started using when I was 15 which means I spent 36 years chasing what I thought were the feelings of peacefulness and serenity alcohol and drugs brought me.  36 years before I realized that it was all a lie, false promises from a false God I had worshiped for over three decades.  And while the program of Alcoholics Anonymous teaches us that if we work hard at recovery we will not regret the past...nor wish to shut the door on it, there are times that I wish that it has not taken me so long to get sick and tired of being sick and tired. 

If you have read any of my previous entries you will know that I am fond of speaking of the truths that I have learned along this circuitous rocky road of recovery.  Prominent among there are that while I shrank back at age 51 when I was told I could not drink the rest of my life I cannot begin to appreciate how difficult, scary and intimidating the concept of total abstinence from drugs and alcohol is for an adolescent or young adult.  The road to sustained recovery is an arduous one for everyone but for young people it is especially so.  They exist in a culture of excessive consumption in which they define themselves by their relationships with peers.  Acceptance by others and being comfortable in ones own skin are most often the cornerstones of identity and for many use and abuse of alcohol and drugs is the fast-track to "fitting in".

When our son David was first in treatment we learned that alcoholics and addicts are surrounded by a cluster of  family and friends who directly or indirectly enable that person's using behavior.  Adults who suffer from the disease of addiction usually have anywhere from 5-10 people who make up this cluster of "enabler's".  For adolescents and young adults there can be upwards of 25 to 35 people who enable them. So when a counselor or 12 Step sponsor tells a young person that one of the key components of  sustaining recovery is to change "people...places and things" it's no wonder that despair and fear can follow.  Alcoholics Anonymous' one size fits all philosophy designed by middle aged, white males has done little to help.  Perhaps  AA would do well to take a chapter from their Al-Anon brothers and sisters and consider a program similar to Al-Ateen to make 12 step recovery more accessible to young people.

Still the good news is that thousand of adolescents and young adults do find recovery everyday through treatment and 12 step recovery programs despite the appalling lack of treatment facilities throughout the United States and continuing discrimination by health insurance providers. I never cease to be filled with admiration for the young person who finds their way into recovery no matter what the path.  One of the common laments of men and women in the rooms of AA, NA, or CA is..."I wish I could have found recovery when I was younger."

So when I see a young person tentatively and reluctantly enter a treatment center or a 12 step meeting I feel hope and promise for their own recovery...hope and promise for the thousands who haven't made it yet...and hope and promise in the knowledge that if they do find recovery in their youth they will enjoy many more years of recovery than I will have the chance to experience in the time that I have left.