Before Portage (How I started taking drugs/alcohol and why)
I started taking drugs and alcohol at the age of twelve. I had just moved from a small town in the eastern townships to what I considered to be a big city. It was a difficult move for me at that time in my life. I went from knowing everyone in town to knowing nobody and having no friends.
The first people I met were the neighborhood hoodlums and I quickly realized that I could use drugs and alcohol to fit in and make friends. This trend followed me throughout high school where I had to change schools four times in five years. Drugs and alcohol were the tools I used to not feel alone and eventually, they became my most cherished friends.
The drugs had taken over my life and I legitimately feared for my safety and my life. To this day, I still remember vividly that conversation and the words my mother said to me. She said that if I did not change my life, I would die a slow and painful death.
What led me to call Portage or how I was referred
The drugs had taken over my life and I legitimately feared for my safety and my life. So I called my parents at around 5:00 AM one morning for help. To this day, I still remember vividly that conversation and the words my mother said to me. She said that if I did not change my life, I would die a slow and painful death.
Those words really resonated with me to the point that I spent the next six hours calling help lines and searching the Internet for long term residential therapies. After the fifth person to mention Portage, I decided to call and start the admission process. I didn’t know it then but my life was about to completely change.
My first days at Portage
The one hour drive from Montreal to Lac Echo was difficult for me. I was scared and questioned my decision to willingly lock myself up for six months of my life. I remember not saying a word the whole drive up to the lake.
Once we finally arrived, I thought things would get better but they didn’t. Not at first. We waited in the orientation room until we completed the admission which consisted of meeting the nurse, getting screened and showering. By this point I was seriously questioning my decision and wondered how I was ever going to be able to get through six months of this.
Then we went to our first night meeting and at that moment I knew my life had just changed. I have never felt anything like it in my entire life. I knew I was home.
Then we went to our first night meeting and at that moment I knew my life had just changed. I have never felt anything like it in my entire life. I knew I was home.
How long I’ve been at Portage and what has changed
After 6 months at Portage, so much has changed. When I first walked through those doors I was shy, timid, dishonest and an unreliable person. I had zero confidence and my self-esteem was gone. I genuinely disliked the person I was and thought I had to create this false persona for people to like me.
I soon found out that that just wasn’t the case. I built my confidence back up and slowly but surely my self-esteem came back as well. I found out that I could be a role model and a positive influence on my peers. I wasn’t the follower I always thought I was. I was a leader with the responsibility of being the coordinator of my community for close to eight weeks. I have realized during the time I spent at Portage that I’m actually a pretty amazing person.
How I see the future after completing the program
I see a very promising future full of hope and happiness. Since completing the program, I have been accepted to College and I am currently studying to become an avionic technician. My relationship with my family has never been better. I have repaired relationships that had been ruined from my drug abuse. I have my own apartment now and I’m almost debt free. I couldn’t be more excited with my life and where it’s headed.
Finally, where I think I would be without Portage
I honestly don’t know where I would be without Portage. My guess is I would be either dead, in jail or in a psych ward. Portage has given me a place to live after leaving the program (Supervised Apartments - To favor social reintegration, clients of certain programs have access to supervised apartments upon completion of the residential program).
Portage has given me all the tools I need to live a happy and sober life.
Heath, living at Supervised Apartments of Portage
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