I am appreciative of Narconon

I am truly appreciative of Narconon

By the age of 32, I had abused alcohol for 16 years. At that time, I had lost a career, a spouse, and was on the verge of never being able to see my 3-year-old daughter again due to the fear that had been created in my ex-wife over my lack of control regarding my drinking. My mother was at wits end, and was also soon to wash her hands of me.

In taking one final chance to salvage her son, my mother brought me to Narconon. After spending a few days of detoxing from the alcohol, I awoke to a miserable state of mind regarding myself. I was 32 years old, a complete failure in life and in rehab. I wanted to die and not face the misery that I had put others through as well as myself through. I felt utterly alone and had no idea of how to go about fixing anything about these relationships, and hence, wanted to just give up on life.

Fortunately, I had around the clock care. This was probably the most vulnerable time in my life, and with me by my side 24 hours a day during this time was a dedicated staff member of Narconon to assist me in my recovery. During this time, I was treated with dignity. I was nourished, exercised lightly, and soothed and calmed by professional treatment. I was in a place where somebody was actually going out of their way to tend to my needs. I was bewildered as to why anybody would treat me in such a manner. I felt as if I did not deserve this treatment, and was shocked that it was actually being delivered to me.

After a few more days of this treatment, I was gradually integrated into the actual program that Narconon had to offer. I was started on a regiment of communication exercises that further calmed me and brought me back into reality. I was starting to get to know some of the other people that were involved in this program and soon began to recognize that they were some pretty good people that (to me) didn’t seem to have any problems. I thought to myself “what are these people doing here?” I soon started to understand that these people were just like me. They had just been through the program a little bit longer and had handled themselves much more than I already had. They encouraged me to just stick with the program and apply myself to it, and I would turn my life around. Yeah, right, I said to myself.

After getting through the communication exercises and that had helped me to calm down to a strong degree, I was informed that I would be doing the sauna portion of the program. Okay, I was feeling a bit better, so I figured I’d give it a shot and last it out a little bit longer. I still didn’t feel as if I was cured. As a matter of fact, I hadn’t even started addressing alcohol in the two weeks that I had been there. I hadn’t talked about it once to any of my counselors, and therefore didn’t feel as if I was making any progress.

In doing the sauna portion of the program, I started to feel much better physically and mentally. I started exercising and was on a strong vitamin regiment combined with sweating the impurities out of my body. By the time I was done with this portion of the program, I had regained some confidence in myself. I could actually run several miles relatively easily and was overall just feeling physically fantastic. Hmm, there might actually be something to this stuff after all I thought.

From this point on, I started focusing on the technology and learning what I could from it. I had been around for just over a month by now, was feeling very good, had a clear head, and was starting to feel that life was pretty manageable after all. The materials that I learned from this point on made a tremendous amount of sense to me. Much of what I was learning also had a familiar sense to me as well. Like I had known it through my upbringing, but just never had it explained to me in such a concise manner.

These materials emphasized such things, as making sure you understood something when you read it, treating others the way that you would want to be treated, establishing a good sense of the reality of the world around you, developing and staying with a moral and ethical code, and staying away from negative influences in your life. By the time I had read all of these materials, I was recognizing within myself that I was not a terrible, awful person, but just somebody that had gone against the basic principles that my family and friends had instilled in me as I was growing up. Well, I could correct these negative traits about myself, and with each new principle read, I indeed did so.

I was also helped during this time in putting these principles into application with my family and friends. I was encouraged to restore communication with my loved ones. I was terribly afraid of doing so at first. The anxiety that I went through the first time that I called my ex-wife was incredibly strong. By the time I was done with that first phone call, I was extremely grateful for those communication exercises that I went through in the beginning. These allowed me to be as comfortable as I possibly could despite the anxiety. The amazing part of it was, with each phone call, it became easier and easier to communicate. I was beginning to recognize more so, that my loved ones really did care about me and were just interested in me doing the right things in life and not causing any havoc in any of our lives.

By this time, I began to recognize that alcohol was not the problem. It was all of the social skills that I had been lacking in that was the true problem. With each correction of my skills, I was soon becoming quite confident in my ability to deal with the everyday problems of life without turning to alcohol to escape them. And with each new victory in confronting these problems, my confidence grew, until finally, I had completed the program that had been laid out.

I felt very, very good. I had been doing the right things for about four months. I had restored the good feelings of my family, my friends, and most importantly in my life at the time, my daughter. For the first time in my life, I knew I had the capability of being a father. I also knew that I had the ability to be a friend, an employee, a husband, or anything else that I so desired.

Since the day that I graduated the program, there have been many, many situations in life that I have had to face that were difficult. But I had learned that life is made of situations and problems that need to be sorted out and dealt with. I had learned that if I didn’t solve these situations with the best resolve that I had, that I would not feel good about myself. But that if I did solve these problems, I would feel much better about myself. Pretty simple, actually, succeed or fail. And I had been given the tools to succeed, again. Once by my upbringing, and again through Narconon. And what I chose to do is succeed.

I am forever grateful that I was given the opportunity to turn my life around for the better. I don’t believe that I would have ever done so on my own accord. I know that regardless of whatever occurs in life from here on out, that alcohol and/or drugs is not the solution to the problem, and that these could only make the matters worse. I enjoy the confidence of family and friends alike, that I will do all in my power to ensure that I never betray, and won’t through alcohol or drugs. Life is too good and enjoyable when one is doing the right things and displaying the reasons why one is loved.

I’m proud to say that I have now been sober for almost six years now. I have my head on straight, I think with the foresight of the consequences of my actions, and only act with the best interest of others in mind. Without a doubt, I never would have felt or behaved this way if it weren’t for the fact of doing the Narconon program. It is truly a life-changing course of action that I support fully.

-D.W.

Ending Drug Addiction The Narconon Way

The Narconon drug rehabilitation program, first established in 1966, is unique. It is a proven "get off and stay off drugs" program. The Narconon program has been used successfully by thousands of people around the world to rid themselves of the need for drugs and regain control of their lives.

The Narconon program, unlike more traditional treatment, deals with both the physical and mental problems brought about by drug use. Our goal is to assist the addict, both mentally and physically, to become a whole and sane person capable of dealing with life's many and varied challenges. The end result is a success rate that is 3 to 4 times that of other programs. None of these solutions involves the use of any drug.

William Benitez, founder of the Narconon program, recognized that drug addiction was a type of disability. The Narconon program is comprehensively designed to overcome the disability of addiction by working to restore and develop the natural abilities of the addicted person.

A combination of physical detoxification, unique forms of cognitive and objective therapies, and life skills training, the Narconon program is delivered in phases where our “students” complete a series of distinct courses designed to complement and expand on each other.

When a person uses drugs over a period of time, the body becomes unable to completely eliminate them all. Drugs are broken down in the liver. These metabolites (the substances the body converts the drugs into), although removed rapidly from the blood stream, become trapped in the fatty tissues. There are various types of tissues that are high in fat content, the one thing in common – and the problem that needs to be addressed – is that these drug residues remain for years. Tissues in our bodies that are high in fats are turned over very slowly. When they are turned over, the stored drug metabolites are released into the blood stream and reactivate the same brain centers as if the person actually took the drug. The former addict now experiences a drug restimulation (or “flashback”) and drug craving. This is common in the months after an addict quits and can continue to occur for years, even decades.

When the addict initially tries to quit, cells in the brain that have become used to large amounts of these metabolites are now forced to deal with much decreased amounts. Even as the withdrawal symptoms subside, the brain “demands” that the addict give it more of the drug. This is called drug craving. Craving is an extremely powerful urge and can cause a person to create all kinds of “reasons” they should begin using drugs or drinking again. He is now trapped in an endless cycle of trying to quit, craving, relapse and fear of withdrawal.

Eventually, the brain cells will again become used to having lowered drug metabolites. But, because deposits of drug metabolites release back into the bloodstream from fatty tissues for years, craving and relapse remain a cause for concern. Left unhandled, the presence of metabolites even in microscopic amounts cause the brain to react as if the addict had again actually taken the drug and can set up craving and relapse even after years of sobriety

The Narconon Program Resolves Drug Cravings

While drugs and their metabolites quickly become undetectable in blood and urine, some as rapidly as 3 days after last usage, drug metabolites remain stored in fatty tissues for years. That these accumulated drug residues continue to cause adverse symptoms led to the development of a program aimed at reducing levels of toxins in the body to assist in recovery.

The graph depicts cocaine metabolites being excreted in the sweat and urine of clients participating in the Narconon® New Life Detoxification Program. Levels of drug metabolites are not detectable in clients prior to the start of this program, then increase dramatically and slowly taper off as the program is continued. This supports the argument that drug residues remain in the fatty tissues and that the correct treatment can mobilize and remove them through the body’s excretory systems.

The New Life Detoxification Program utilizes a combination of exercise, induced sweating in a sauna, and nutritional supplements to produce the following results:

Reduction or elimination of drug and alcohol cravings.
Reduction or elimination of many symptoms associated with drug addiction and alcoholism. These can include depression, irritability, and fatigue.
Ability to think more clearly.
Improved memory and attention span.
Increased energy.
Increased sense of well being.
Enthusiasm toward life.