HELPING ADDICTS TO BREAK FREE OF DRUGS

On The Road To Recovery

THEY say that near-death experiences can change a person's outlook on
life, and Angela is no exception to that rule.

After coming close to dying as a result of a heroin overdose two
years ago, she realised she had to get her life in order if she was
to provide any kind of a future for her young daughter.

Angela - not her real name - had been using heroin for six years
before she almost lost everything, spending almost UKP100 a day on
her habit. And, although her memories are hazy, she can still recount
some of the events leading up to her overdose.

"I had been drinking all day and I had taken between 20-30 valium,"
she remembers. "At night I went to a pub in Falkirk where I took some
ecstasy with a pal, and I remember him asking me if I was pregnant.

"I told him to get lost and not to be so cheeky, but what I didn't
realise was that my belly had swollen up because my liver had started
to pack in.

"When I got home that night I phoned my dealer and he came up to the
house with a bag of heroin. The next thing I remember was waking up
in hospital."

Angela wouldn't be here to tell her story if her mother hadn't made a
chance visit to her house the following morning. When she arrived and
saw her daughter's almost lifeless body, she feared the worst.
However, paramedics were quickly on the scene to save her life.

"If my mum hadn't turned up I would definitely be dead," she said.

"The paramedics worked on me for about 45 minutes before they could
move me from my bedroom - I had turned blue."

After coming so close to leaving her child without a mother, Angela
vowed to get a grip on her habit. However, to do so she would need
help - and that's when she got in touch with Signposts Forth Valley.

The service provides advice and support for those who want to address
their drug use, including detox programmes and access to GP services.

But, perhaps more importantly, Signposts runs drop-in centres
throughout the area where people can go to talk about their problems
with others who have gone through similar experiences.

For Angela, this is vitally important. While she now takes heroin
once or twice a week, she is no longer completely dependent on the drug.

"I have managed to stabilise my habit," she said. "But one day I want
to be heroin-free. It helps a lot to come in here and have a chat
with people who have experienced what I am going through now."

Jackie Johnston, who is a service co-ordinator with Signposts, said
that the introduction of a new detox programme gives addicts a
variety of ways in which they can wean themselves off heroin.

"Our programme is about giving people intense support," she
explained. "Somebody doing detox would see their worker three times a
week, and they would work together to build strategies to deal with
their cravings.

"However, I would say that someone who is suitable for treatment has
to be committed to addressing the problem. Angela is committed to
stabilising her addiction with a view to cutting it out altogether.
She has cut down her use, and that tells us that she is using heroin
to function rather than using it for the hit. She is now at the stage
where treatment can be really effective."

Angela said that her commitment to beating the drug comes out of love
for her daughter, but she added that there are children out there who
aren't so lucky.

"I admit that, when I was on heroin, I neglected my daughter, but
that was emotionally rather than anything else," she said.

"I always made sure she was fed and clothed, and I would never let my
daughter do without, even if it meant I had to.

"But I have been in houses where there were six and seven-year-old
kids running around smoking fags while their parents were on heroin.
I thought that was bloody horrible. I would never expose my daughter to that."

And, while she acknowledges that it could take a while before she is
totally clean, Angela knows that she has made significant strides
towards beating her addiction.

"Heroin used to be the first thing I thought about when I got out of
bed in the morning," she said. "That doesn't happen any more."