A Beautiful Struggle: Addiction Survivors Share the Ways They Overcame the Substance Abuse That Stole Their Youth

“I have been doing drugs half my life... There had been times where I was thinking, ‘When is it going to be over? When am I going to be done?’ It took a long time, but with God’s help, I am here today and I am sober and clean.”

Patricio’s words serve as an inspiring example for us all: no matter what we’ve been through in the past, we can all become the heroes of our own stories.

Some of the most uplifting people we could ever meet come from the humblest of beginnings. We learned through our interviews with people in addiction recovery that this is definitely — perhaps especially — true of people working to overcome a substance abuse issue. We hope that the stories they shared with us will help people from all walks of life realize that there is always hope for a brighter future, no matter what you may be going through and no matter what kind of help you need to get there.

Breanna refused to let her early drug use ruin her life

Breanna’s drug addiction began early on. She admitted, “I’ve been using drugs since I was very young. I started out with weed and moved on to heavier drugs, and my drug of choice was methamphetamine.” She finally mustered the courage to enter a recovery program, but it wasn’t easy.

“The day that I chose to go to addiction treatment was the day that I walked into my house and my mother just started crying. The look in my mother’s eyes — when I saw the disappointment and the upset, it was heartbreaking,” she recalled.

Now clean and sober, she’s grateful she reached out for help. She said she couldn’t have known it those first days in rehab, but admitting she couldn’t fight on her own anymore was just what she needed to get herself on the path to the fulfilling life she deserves.

“When I first came to Best Drug Rehabilitation, it was scary,” she confessed. “You don’t know what to expect. Going through the program, meeting the people, the staff, and taking the courses really changed my life.”

Tiffany overcame unimaginable odds

Tiffany truly believes that if she could defeat her demons, anyone can. Indeed, her life took a rough turn early on. “I was a drug addict. I was a prostitute, gang banger and dope dealer,” she explained. “When I was 12 years old, I joined a gang and I started to run from school — started to run from life. At first, I dabbled in different kinds of drugs, and then I met heroin. Heroin took over my entire life.”

It took a true tragedy for her to get perspective and finally seek the help that she so needed. “What got me here, the end of the road of my addiction, was my mother passing away." She said ultimately, what led her to seeking a new beginning for herself was the woman who’d believed in her all along — even after she was gone.

“She chased me for 10 years and she tried to save me, because she saw something in me that I didn’t see for myself yet,” Tiffany said. Although for many years she couldn’t picture a life without drugs, she can’t imagine ever going back to the life that robbed her of all her joy — and precious time with her mother. She’s rightfully proud of the woman she’s become.

“Today, I don’t have to live that way anymore. My breaking point wasn’t slinging dope, mutilating people or myself; it wasn’t gang banging, it wasn’t the prostitution. It was burying my mother,” she reflected. “I never had structure in my life. I never had anything I gave two seconds for. It was all about me and how I could do it and what could I get. For the first time in my life I actually have dreams. I know who I am. I know that I love the woman that I have become when I look into the mirror.”

Patricio, Breanna, and Tiffany truly show that no matter how lost you feel, how hopeless your circumstances may seem, there is always, always a way out. And if you need to recruit help in order to unbury yourself, you should do it. You may never know just how beautiful your life can be unless you do.

As Breanna said to those struggling with addiction or any other difficult life challenge, “It’s scary, but the people in a rehabilitation center are only there to help. You just have to take that one step forward. Life is a beautiful struggle, and it is what you make it.”