A Mother’s Story of Regaining Her Son

Before my son started using drugs, he was very engaged with the family. He was always a person you knew was going to be energetic in the morning. He loved to be alive and would always wake up happy. It would make your own mood better and had an impact on your day.

About 5 years ago, he started using meth. We weren’t really aware at first, as he was always out for work. There was not a lot of interaction due to him being out of state, so we couldn’t tell. But the last 2 and a half years, we started to notice more things. He was not being truthful and was more withdrawn from the family. He would not keep promises, not show up to family get-togethers, and not take phone calls. That’s when we knew it was more serious than just being busy.

It got to the point where we didn’t trust him to do what he said. We could never count on him to follow through with his word. He was lying, and we never knew what was the truth. It impacted how we wanted to interact with him. He would show up and ask us to watch Noah, his dog, but we knew he was just going to go out looking for drugs. He was absent, and the times he did interact with us, he was still “not there.”

The hardest part of it all was just not knowing and the fear of the police calling and saying he was dead somewhere.

He was verbally aggressive with his sister and dad. Any conversations with them caused him to lash out at them. His sister didn’t feel comfortable being alone with him, and his dad felt like he couldn’t say anything right without him yelling at him and being disrespectful. These behaviors were not something we were used to, and it was very out of character for him.

He started to talk about not having hope for life, not having hope for the future. He was very depressed, withdrawn, and didn’t smile. When he was around, he would sleep constantly. That’s when we picked up that we needed to do something.

We started to talk to him to get him to realize that he needed to do something. We wanted him to want to do it. So, we slowly introduced it with a “this is what we see, and this is what we think is best. What do you think?” kind of approach.

I had a friend who went through the Narconon program about 20 years ago, and I remember him talking about it. So I reached out to him and asked about his experience and if he recommended it. With his experience, if he could go through the traumas he had had in his life, it gave me hope that this was the best place for my son. We felt more comfortable with the services they provided and felt he would get the most from it out of it than any other program out there. We chose Narconon because of the treatment length, the fact that it was not rushed, and you go at your own pace and get to the core. Getting the toxins out of the body and working on self was a big draw.

It went really smooth once my son decided he was willing. The fact that Narconon Arrowhead was willing to take him 24/7 made it easy to get him help. The staff were very informative and welcoming – answering all our questions and explaining the program. There wasn’t any judgment about what he had done. They were just here to help him regardless, with the goal to help him get better.

As he went through the program, he got more talkative and more open with us. He was gaining his confidence back. His appearance was getting better, and you could hear in his voice that he was happy, things were getting better, and he could finally see a future.

There was a lot of interaction with staff. We could always ask questions and knew we would get a response and updates. We knew there was always someone to listen and get a response. Availability of staff was very important. It made it easier.

His graduation was very emotional for us. We are so proud of his accomplishments. We knew he had it in him, but he didn’t know. And he accomplished it on his own will and his own desire to get better. There are no words to express how proud we are of his accomplishment. I’m thankful for all the hard work, thankful for the staff for the hard work they put into him. He is important, valued, and loved.

We are still building back our relationship, but we are past the uncertainty of whether to believe him. Now it is at the point that we believe what he says. I trust when he says he will accomplish something, he will go out and do it. He means it and will try his best to do that.

“The best thing about him completing the Narconon program is that he is here. We didn’t lose him. He has a future. If he wants to get married and have kids, he can. He didn’t see it before.”

The best thing about him completing the Narconon program is that he is here. We didn’t lose him. He has a future. If he wants to get married and have kids, he can. He didn’t see it before.

I want him to be happy and not think that he owes us anything. The best payment is to see him succeeding in life. I don’t need him to be some professional doctor. I just need him to be here and be happy and productive. Narconon kept him here, kept him alive, and gave him hope. It helped him deal with past experiences that would prevent moving forward.

My advice to anyone else with an addicted loved one is to be there. You hear people saying so much about tough love. We didn’t do that. Our perspective was to be there for him – not enable him but let him know that we would be there. If he wanted to help himself, we were willing to be there to help him. So make sure you are not being an enabler but be there offering positive help and positive growth.

Thank you, Narconon.

Cyndie A., Mother of Narconon Arrowhead Graduate