How and Why I Started Addiction Link

A message from the editor

I’ve always been a curious sort, someone who’s willing to try anything and everything at least once. That was certainly true with drugs and alcohol.

I started so innocently. Partying as a teenager. Drinking myself into oblivion. Smoking pot. Flirting with harder drugs. No matter how foreign the substance seemed to others, I was more fascinated and intrigued by it, rather than rigid and repulsed.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. I came from a good family. My Dad was a school teacher. My Mom dedicated herself full-time to raising a family. My Grandmother, who lived with us, cooked meals whenever we asked. My family religiously ate Sunday dinner together for years. My life was good.

Yet eventually, my curiosity and my partying turned into alcoholism, and then into cocaine abuse. For 10 years, I was consumed by a nasty addiction.

I ended up in treatment in 2001. A group of 10 men sat in a circle around one counsellor. We talked about our problems. At the end of the 28 days, I thought I was cured. I was wrong!

After that, no amount of help seemed to work. I continued to lapse into my addiction, and I began to believe that treatment was not fully possible.

I had a wonderful wife, a great family, and a little financial stress at the time. But no real trauma-at least nothing that seemed so horrible that caused me to continuously escape into a drug-induced coma.

So, what was wrong? What was causing this?

I was a chronic relapser. Just when everything seemed great, I would fall again. I lived with the roller coaster effect-a constant cycle of up’s and downs.

One day, I decided I wasn’t going to allow my relapses into addiction to be a chronic, life-ending disease. Rather, I believed that my condition was treatable and healable. Then everything changed.

There was a shift in thinking, a paradigm shift in my beliefs. Instead of putting my attention and energy into my problem or my symptoms, I decided to focus on, “How do I find health and vitality once again?”

I went on a journey of discovery with a mandate to seek health and vitality. I talked with anyone who knew anything about addiction treatment. These included naturopaths, acupuncturists, AA leaders, addiction specialists, doctors, bio-physical treatment and registered counsellors.

In my exploration, I pursued each treatment method separately. I tried each one, assessing its effectiveness, taking notes and recording what did and didn’t work.

My search led to some key conclusions: no one method of recovery or treatment works for every person. Not all treatment facilities are created equal, and not all methods of treatment are appropriate for every person and condition. For me, a combination of therapies and programs provided me with the course of recovery that has changed my life.

That’s why I established Addiction Link. In this site, I’ve gathered together the services and programs for addiction treatment in one place-so you don’t have to go looking for them on your own.

Through Addiction Link, I trust that you’ll find an individualized approach for your specific needs. I hope this site will ease your pain, give you hope and guidance, while putting you on a holistic path.

There is hope. There is help. You are on the right path. Give us a call.

Ryan K. Bennett
1-800-559-9503