A Case of Kidnap (or Addiction)

Growing up I vividly remember a serious kidnapping that occurred in my home state, whereby a fourteen yr. old girl was stolen from her bedroom in the dead of night and held captive for over nine months before being rescued. The details surrounding her disappearance were very unclear at the time and some questions remain unanswered to this day. Did she run away with this man, did she resist capture, how was the man able to sneak her away into the night with her whole family present?

In fact, the youngest sister had witnessed a man come in and take her but she hid in fear for hours before telling their parents, who in turn simply sent the little girl back to bed believing she had had a bad dream. It was later that night when they realized their own nightmare had come to life and in the morning her disappearance was announced on the news and a state-wide search began.

I took part in those first weeks of searching. My friends and I would get together and hike though the vast expanses of wilderness that surrounds the area. We had never met this young girl but we wanted to help somehow and being young and able we could cover a lot of ground in a day. We tired ourselves to the bone as we roamed the steep mountains and valleys, wading through large groves of dense trees, straining our eyes as we scanned the landscape for any clue, anything that might lead us to her, anything that might help her be found.

Whatever imaginations I had of saving her at that time totally evaporated after the first week. We had searched miles and miles of terrain and there were hundreds of miles left, we had gone far but couldn’t go far enough. The horizon continued to stretch far away at the end of each day, each day she was suffering greatly, and each day her salvation felt further out of reach.

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5 Compelling Reasons to Choose Rehab in the New Year

The New Year is all about saying goodbye to the old and welcoming in the new. This is a time of year when people traditionally feel more enthusiastic about change, and this is expressed in the form of resolutions. Going to rehab can be the most life-changing decision you ever make, and here are 5 compelling reasons for why you should consider it in the New Year:

1. You Have Already Lost Enough Time to Addiction

Some days are better than others when you are caught up in drug addiction, but it is not going to be possible to create sustainable positive change in your life so long as you are controlled by intoxicants. Every day you continue to devote to this behaviour is a day lost, and life is too short to be wasting time like this.

2. It Can Mean Your Last Ruined Christmas

Maybe you tried hard to control your drinking or drug use over the holiday season, but the likelihood is you ended up doing things you regretted due to intoxicated. Maybe you didn’t directly upset a love one, but the fact that you were preoccupied with your drug will have been sensed. By getting sober now, you won’t have to worry about ruining another Christmas.

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How Writing Therapy Can Help You Stay Free of Drug Addiction

Writing therapy can be most effective when it is done under the direction of a therapist, but it is a good practice for anyone recovering from substance abuse. You don’t need to worry about grammar or spelling with engaging in this activity, and it is not about judging your abilities as a writer. Here are just some of the ways writing therapy can help you stay free of drug addiction.

Writing is an Opportunity to Vent

If you are getting stressed about a situation, writing can be a great way to let of some steam. You may be almost shaking with anger when you first grab your pen, but you are likely to feel much better by the time you finish writing. Just put down all your thoughts about the situation on paper without any attempts to edit, and it can be like releasing the valve on a pressure cooker.

Writing Can Lead to Insights

Writing things done can easily lead to insights because it means you get to see things in a new way. If you have a problem, just start putting some of your thoughts down on paper – for example, if you have to make an important choice, you can make a list of pros and cons of each direction you can take. Keeping a daily diary can also mean you stumble upon insights into your life that you would otherwise have missed.

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