In this blog post, Luke*, 17, tells us in his own words about his work with Harbour and how we helped him turn his life around.
When I was first referred to Harbour, me being a ‘troubled teenager’ was a slight understatement. I remember meeting my Harbour worker, Mike Gale, in ACE education where I was attending at the time.
Back then I had a large amount of problems with ecstasy pills, MDMA, cocaine, and cannabis. Mike had weekly meetings with me even throughout my time in Plymbridge House in February 2017, and I remember him talking to me about emotions and impulses in a way that opened my mind, and helped me leave the small bubble I was in that I called a life.
One of the first things that stuck with me since I started my meetings with Harbour was: in the life of an addict, the world that you live in is minuscule. 90% of your thoughts, money, time and lifestyle is drug related and you’re usually in a group of people who are also in this lifestyle who you consider ‘friends’.
“I started to learn about mindfulness, controlling urges, and more things that aided me in my mission to quit drugs and become a normal teenager again.”
This is a lifestyle that I think conforms to Einstein’s Theory of Insanity, where you do the same things over and over again, and expect different results. Some drug users convince themselves that next time is gonna be better than the last time, while blocking out feelings and forcing themselves to be oblivious to the fact that the lifestyle is messing up their whole life. After I not only heard this but actually listened, and realised how true it was, my motivation with quitting drugs heightened, I started to learn about mindfulness, controlling urges, and more things that aided me in my mission to quit drugs and become a normal teenager again.
Now, I am fully clean off all drugs and honestly, if it wasn’t for Mike and the Harbour team then I dread to think where I would be now. I give all my thanks to these amazing, understanding people for helping me overcome my addictions and helping me become the motivated, full of life lad I am today!
* not his real name. Due to the sensitive nature of Harbour’s work, we protect the identities of all of our clients for their privacy and safety.
If you are 18 or younger, and worried about your drug or alcohol use, find out about our specialist services for young people.