Many of you know this, and some of you may not: I am in recovery. I don't want to go too much into my story, because again, this is not about me. I will just say that in September of this year I was able to say that I had been clean and sober for 10 years. I will also say that I have thought about using and drinking more in the past 72 hours than I have in the past 10 years. Not to worry; I am not going to act on those thoughts. I have some great people in my life that support me when things go south and I have the tools I need to stay sober today. Having said that, I think if I had to continue living on streets, my resolve to stay clean and sober may wane considerably.
Many people that I have met over the past 4 days struggle with addition. They drink and use as a means of escape; to try to change the way they feel. Saturday night I met a gentleman who is living on the streets, exchanging sex for drugs, money and a place to sleep. He said in the beginning he had sex with strangers because he needed a place to sleep; now he does it to support his drug habit. A drug habit that began as a way of numbing himself and his feelings of shame. It is a vicious cycle.
Sometimes we have an expectation that people get clean and sober while living on the streets so they will be "ready" for housing and other services. We label people who cannot get clean and sober as "non-compliant" and "resistive to treatment". It is a myth to think that someone who is living under a bridge is going to quit using drugs or alcohol. It is unrealistic and can be harmful. People die on the streets while we are waiting for them to get sober.
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