The Once-a-Years

Addiction is a disease that infiltrates most, if not all, families across the United States and the world. As an alcoholic, I have had the privilege of admitting myself into several detoxes, treatment centers, and partial hospitalization programs around Massachusetts and New England. It is now my duty to share with you what I have learned about the people, my fellow addicts, through my months of involvement in recovery. These may be people that you see once a year, maybe it's on Christmas, Thanksgiving, or at a funeral. These are the family members that we can be so quick to give up on. But, addicts are not bad people - we are sick people. In this book, it is my goal to showcase the good and the bad of rehab; demonstrating who the people on the inside are, for those of us that don't get the chance to visit addiction on a daily basis. Addiction is a hard-fought battle. It controls every second of an addict's day - whether that be foraging for drugs, using their substance(s), and/or making up for the time they spent high and drunk. This is a life of misery, not immorality, for everyone involved, especially the addict themselves. But, every hit or every shot is the addict's solution to their internal issues. From mental health to daily stress, drugs and alcohol are not a problem, they are a solution to a lack of comfort. What rehab does is deliver coping skills that addicts can use, as opposed to their substances, to feel better while re-integrating into social and familial life. Within this book are the people who are getting better, for themselves, their families, and their higher power.