Living With... Addiction

A service user tells his story about how he turned his life around by attending the Alcohol and Drug Services in Salford to help him with his addiction to amphetamines.

Michael’s story

Michael is 43, married and lives in Salford. He started using amphetamines when he was 23 to get through double shifts at work. “A friend at work gave me some speed when I was tired at work. I started using amphetamines regularly at work and for nights out at the weekend. Within six months I was taking amphetamines every day and spending from £5 to £10 a day.”

Michael was eventually sacked from his job and started to commit crimes to fund his habit. Unwilling to speak to family or friends about his problems he kept his addiction a secret. “I didn’t see it as a problem and didn’t think it was anything they needed to know about.”

Soon Michael was spending over £100 per day on amphetamines. He started having hallucinations due to the lack of sleep, suffered from paranoia, had arguments with his wife and was repeatedly arrested by the police.

“I reached rock bottom. I’d been kicked out of my home and nearly took my own life. I met up with my wife and promised that I’d get help. I got an appointment with Salford Substance Misuse Services and they recommended services in Salford.”

Alcohol and Drug Services in Salford provide services for recovering drug and alcohol users who are serious about changing their lives. The ethos of the service is to enable recovery through a range of psychological and social interventions.

“I was really apprehensive about going somewhere new, but I was assigned a key worker who dropped everything to talk. I built up my self esteem by taking part in group work and completed a 12-week intensive recovery programme.”

Michael is now free from his addictions and says his life is no longer ruled by drugs. He volunteers as he wanted to give something back and has been on a number of training courses. His next challenge is to get back to work and he’s well on the way to achieving this with a number of new qualifications under his belt.

For more information about the help Michael received, visit our Substance Misuse Services.

To find out more about the truth and dangers of amphetamines, visit Talk to Frank