25 stories
- Matt -

“I have given my family their son, brother and partner back. I have given my friends the person that they know back. I have taken away the stress and worry that I was filling them with. “

I had my addiction problem for the past 6 years. During this time, I was constantly living in the madness. It was a lonely place that made me feel depressed and disconnected. It made me a liar, and self-centred, and it made me feel like there was no way out. Not only was it impacting my job, it was also massively impacting my family and those closest to me.

I felt for a while that I wanted to get away from it all, but I didn’t know how. I moved to a different city, in the hope that this would get me away from it all. It didn’t. In December 2020, I finally decided that I had to do whatever possible to get out of this lifestyle. That’s when I came across Double Impact.

When I first got in touch with Double Impact I had an in-depth conversation with them about what my problems were and what support they provide. A few days after my first contact with them, I was assigned a one-to-one Recovery worker. He has been crucial to me in my recovery. He provided me with structure by advising me on which of their meetings I should attend. I also valued having someone who was supporting me on a more personal basis than the meetings.

The meetings have also been invaluable to me. They not only allowed me to create a peer network with people in a similar situation, but they also taught me tools to deal with, and overcome, my addiction and everything that comes with it – whether that be learning to deal with emotions better or understanding triggers and cravings.

I continue to speak with my keyworker and attend meetings regularly and I am now nearly 5 months clean. I now feel as though my life has meaning and purpose. I have given my family their son, brother and partner back. I have given my friends the person that they know back. I have taken away the stress and worry that I was filling them with. I am happy and have a drive and passion for life that I lost through my addiction. Double Impact have helped me onto this path of a better, cleaner life.