A Goodbye Letter to My Addiction Sober Living Los Angeles, CA

Friends who talked down about you, I let them go. You took me to death and back a handful of times. I forgave you, invited you back in like an old friend. You took the air from my lungs and turned my skin blue, but I caught my breath and carried on with you by letter to my addiction my side. Richard Singer is a recovering alcoholic and drug addict who was once homeless and ready to die as a direct result of addiction. Richard has over 20 years of extensive experience in the field of addiction treatment as a psychotherapist and educator.

Eventually, I realized that I was wrong. You became the hardest relationship I have ever had to experience. You started to take more than you gave. In fact, you stopped giving at all.

Dear Addiction to Heroin

That’s really good news for you, because now you can go find someone else to love, and fuck their life up too. Hopefully I’ll meet them before it gets too bad, and I’ll try to help them get rid of you. So goodbye, you wicked bitch of a liquid. I always thought weed was better anyway. By that point, my family was really involved in our relationship. Anyway, it was like when I was young again, we had to start hiding our relationship, and we had to come up with more and more clever ways to see each other.

It will let you know where you stand in regard to addiction. But, my dear addiction, I see you for what you are. They say that when we are sitting in meetings (12-step programs), you are outside in the parking lot doing push ups.

addiction worksheet

In 2008, he was recognized by the Praed Foundation as a national “Systems Champion” for implementing a statewide children’s assessment for DCS. He also received the Friend of Children Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010 from Tennessee Voices for Children after seven years on their board. We first met when I was just a boy. You first came to me in a bottle and a breath of smoke. You enticed me with glamour and elevation of mood, enriching my life experience in blind surprise.

He told me I didn’t have to fight you alone. I enrolled in a treatment center. The first few days were the worst. Going to score drugs and meeting new people who were in relationships with addiction just like me was a rush. Going into a tough neighborhood filled with dangerous people was always an experience that made me feel invincible. Some days, I thought you were what I wanted.

A Letter From the Addict to the Addiction

Having us believe you can solve our problems, take our stress away and connect us to others in ways we think we can’t on our own. If you are struggling to articulate your feelings about the emotional roller coaster that is early recovery, a letter may be able to help. Writing down your goals can dramatically increase your chances of achieving them. A letter may not be as grand https://ecosoberhouse.com/ or as effective as talking to a therapist, but it is a valid approach nonetheless. It can fire up your determination to leave drugs and alcohol behind. The letter above is just an example, and yours should be focused on your own experience and feelings. It’s okay to feel sad while writing your letter, but it’s also important to focus on the good things that are about to come.

Anyway, when I look back now I see when our relationship really started affecting my life as a whole. I started going to community college but I still spent most of my time with you. I would skip class, skip homework, just so we could be together. I never did end up graduating with a degree, remember? We had been together for about four or five years at that point.

Farewell Letter to My Addiction

The other people I was with were bothered by that, and they began to avoid me because they didn’t like you — and they no longer liked the “me” I had become. You seduced me with the idea that I was free of all prejudices and that “society” was trying to brainwash me. Abandoning my career goals, I turned to petty crimes. Abandoning friendship, I turned to exploiting others. No longer brainwashed by society, I hardly realized how I was being brainwashed by you.

• Abandoning my career goals, I turned to petty crimes.
• You weren’t there, but I was thinking of you.
• I didn’t know for how long, so I was careful.
• It’s okay to feel sad while writing your letter, but it’s also important to focus on the good things that are about to come.
• My body and my brain both longed to return to your hold, but I had grown strong enough to pull away.

Once I got more acquainted with them, I knew they, just like you, weren’t my real friends. They only visited when they wanted to manipulate me and make me feel like less of a person. I realized they all came as a result of my interactions with you. What can you say on paper that you cannot say out loud? This letter is for your eyes only, so you do not need to hide anything. Your pain, your sadness, your yearning. Take this short quiz based on the psychiatric diagnostic criteria for addictive disorders.

Benefits of Writing a Goodbye Letter to Addiction

These practical suggestions give hope, from seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, to realizing this light holds a promising future to reclaim. This book helps to make addiction recovery possible. Like all unhealthy relationships, it’s time for you to end things with your addiction once and for all. It starts with you confronting your addiction head on. Whether you’re a rising alcoholic or a heroin addict, it is difficult to get through the day. And your connection with your drug of choice is similar to a terrible love relationship.