In the series "How are things now" we talk with former patients about the period they started treatment at Castle Craig. They tell about their experiences and how things are going now. The names have been changed, but their stories are real.
John (33) 2018
'I remember being dropped off at Schiphol by my drug and drinking brothers and that in the car we took the last crumbs of cocaine from the farewell party the night before. "So, and now it's done and we're going into recovery," I said to my buddies. They had to laugh about that. And I. That laughter ended quickly in Scotland. What I particularly struggled with at Castle Craig was missing the home front. My friends even more than my family, because with them I had fun and I could forget my demons. '
John (35) 2020
'Now when I look back on my trip to Scotland I learned some very important things there. First, never look away when my demons haunted my past. And I'm talking about a difficult childhood and a mother who crawled into bed next to me at night and wanted more from me than the pure love of a son. And secondly, that you sometimes have to say goodbye to things that stand in the way of your recovery. No matter how difficult that is.
When I told my friends that I wanted to put contact with them on the back burner, I did so with a pounding heart. I also encountered a lot of anger and hostility. Last year, one of those friends was killed on a motorcycle. It happened at five in the morning and he just got out of a dance party. I don't know if he had been drinking and / or taking drugs. But if looks could speak at the funeral, the other friends said he wasn't sober. I am so happy with my two year decision to go to Castle Craig. I don't know for sure, but I feel that that decision saved my life. '