My name is Charles Brown. I am a recovering drug addict. I spent 18 years chasing drugs. I've been clean 38 years.
Denial is still the bigger part of this disease. At that point, I didn't even know that I was a drug addict. I was just doing what all of my friends were doing. You know, association brings about assimilation, so that's all I hung around with.
Even though I was working two full-time jobs, my other spare time was hanging out with them. And when Maxwell says, "When you're not aware you're not even aware, that you're not aware." I wasn't even aware that I was a drug addict. So consequently, I'm understanding that when I deal with patients, they may not even be aware of the depth of their addiction/mental health challenges.
So, that's why I suspect mental health and substance abuse kinda ride in the same vehicle. Most folk that come through now cross addicted. You know, you use a little alcohol, you use a little marijuana use...
There was a little bit of everything except for that white powder. You just need to be afraid of some things. I was afraid of that. And what recovery looks like now.
Recovery is my work, it's my ministry. I go to, language is the framework for behavior first because stigma is part of the language. It's what people say, it's what people use. What you do with it is gonna be up to you.
So this thing about stigma from where I sit is what you do with it. Recovery actually works, but you have to work it. And I tell my patients, "Anybody can put it into play for a day, but can you put it into play for a lifetime? Can you put it into play and turn it into a practice?"
Charles has been in recovery for 38 years and helps individuals with SUD as an addiction therapist. “Recovery is my work, it’s my ministry,” he says. “Recovery actually works, but you have to work at it.”
