We Are All At Risk…..

If you had told me that my immediate family would be touched by the plague of addiction, I would have disagreed. If you had told me that I, myself, would fall victim I would have laughed in your face. I am, you see, in relative control of my life. I don't drink or smoke. With the exception of the occasional unhealthy food binge, I lead a pretty clean life.

Work was becoming more and more stressful. Problem is that I get paid to think. When your job is more mental than manual, stress builds up. Some days I would much rather have the sore muscles from a long days toil than the headache associated with problem solving all day long. My friend noticed my change in demeanor and suggested that he had just the thing to take the edge off. Just the thing to make transition from work to home more relaxing. It started at his house. I tried it once during a visit and he was right, despite the high and the adrenaline rush that you immediately get, it leaves you in a calmer state. What started as a one time thing, lead to me stopping at his house almost everyday after work to "unwind". I was getting home later and later, and my wife was beginning to worry.

I convinced her that maybe this was something that we could do together. She allowed me to bring it into our home. She tried it once and hated it. But she saw the powerful grip that it had on me and she felt that at least if I was "using" at home, that she could control it. Now with this evil thing in MY home, I was beginning to spiral downward into a deeper addiction. It is the kind of thing that allows you to start slow. As you gain resistance you need more and more to maintain the effects. I was beginning to use it before work and late into the evening. I was coming home for lunch, simply to use. It got to the point where I didn't want to go to social gatherings if it wasn't going to be there. I am ashamed to say that I went to my nephew's birthday party mostly because I knew that my brother-in-law was a user too. It would be there.

Sometimes reality has to smack you in the face to wake you up. My wake up call came when my young teenage daughter became hooked. I only have myself to blame. She caught me using. I was careless. I was ashamed. I decided to let her try, convinced that she wouldn't like it. Convinced that it was more of a boy thing than a girl thing. Convinced that after her initial trial, under my control, her curiosity would be soothed. I was wrong. She is a user now as well. Because she has more freetime and less responsibility, I am afraid that her use has surpassed mine. My beautiful daughter, who not too long ago only wore "preppy" clothes is now often attired all in black. She has begun wearing vintage concert T-shirts and listening to classic rock on the radio.

We are GUITAR HERO junkies. This video game has an unbreakable grip on us. We are seeking help. For us it may be too late. I only hope my message can help you and your family before it is too late for you. There are warning signs. If you overhear your children saying things that you don't understand such as that they Five-Starred Barracuda today. Get them help. If your pre-teen knows who Stevie Ray Vaughn is, get them help. If they sing along to songs on the radio, and their only words are RED, GREEN, YELLOW, RED, BLUE, GREEN, ORANGE, get them help.

I hope that you learn from my mistake. I've got to go now. My daughter just Gold Starred a song and I've got to try to break her record. If only breaking this addiction was as easy.