[angelica]

My brother has been taking all kinds of drugs for 15 years of his life, he has been to two rehab centres, but unfortunately could not resist the temptation of drugs and alcohol. Five years ago, my son was born and it made him realise he needed to get clean to be involved in his life, and maybe gave him a reason to sort himself out. We managed to get him on the subutex program, which seemed to be working, and he was doing well, he started working and living life as normally as he could. The only problem is he had lost contact with his ‘old friends’ and felt isolated. This caused him to drink quite heavily and start taking other drugs to get some kind of high. When he was under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs he constantly argued and blamed us for his addiction and that we were controlling his life. These arguments have been going on for years and have never stopped, but he didnt take heroin in that whole period. Two months ago, he met a girl, who is a user and addicted to alcohol too, she has children, which have been taken off her, as she is unfit to look after them. Since he has met her, he has stopped his suboxone and started to go on binges of both alcohol and heroin. I have tried to interfere and explain to her that she is pulling him back into the lifestyle he left, but it seems she does not care that he has been clean for so many years. This week has been a bad week for us as a family, as the situation has worsened. Last night, he came home totally off his head and he was all over the place..he started crying and told me that he doesn’t know why he went back to this life and needs help. Today I phoned a drug advisory agency and managed to get someone to see him. He has started taking his suboxone again, until they refer him to a detox unit. I feel for all the families out there, that live or have someone in their life with an addiction. Most of all, I feel for my brother and all the other addicts, as their addiction has taken over their lives and stopped them living their life to the fullest. I wish that people wouldn’t treat them like dirt and call them names and make them feel like they don’t exist, as addiction is an illness. They are normal people, who feel things like all of us do. I just wish they didn’t resort to taking something to make them forget or suppress their issues and troubles in life. I hope my brother can overcome this problem and most of all I hope he can have the will power to overcome this, because I don’t want to be burying him or find him dead over this addiction. I wish all the families and addicts out there the best of luck, and most of all, try not to give up on them.

[asibling]

Thank you for sharing your story.

It seems there are few services and research done considering the experience of family members, in particular siblings. That is why I am conducting a research project looking at the narratives of siblings, encouraging others like you to share their experiences. If you wish to participate and share your story or would like more information please contact me at u1422721@uel.ac.uk. Thank you.

[Author]

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