Hope After Addiction
Did you know?
Every Hour In America:
114 teenagers run away from home,
1,370 teenagers will take some form of an illegal drug,
3,376 teenagers will get drunk.
In Addition
There are an estimated 6,000,000 teenage problem drinkers,
57% of the 17-year-olds in our country have already had sex,
250,000 guns are carried onto high school and Jr. High campuses every day of the school year,
Last year, approximately 700,000 teenagers graduated who could hardly read their diplomas.
Addiction has become a growing epidemic in our nation. The majority of women who are incarcerated are addicted to drugs. 60%-80% of them have either been physically and/or sexually abused or are suffering from post-traumatic stress related to a past abortion. Many have come from broken families and fatherless homes. They have turned to drugs and/or alcohol to numb the pain.
Addiction is defined as one given up to something, usually an evil. The state of being enslaved to a habit or practice. Some of the signs and symptoms of someone struggling with addiction would look like this:
Change in personality
Significant change in sleeping and eating patterns.
Lying, manipulative behaviors
Feeling that you need the substance regularly.
Doing things to obtain the drug that you normally would never do, such as stealing or prostituting yourself.
Repeated legal problems because of substance abuse.
Feeling that you need the substance to deal with your problems.
Requiring more of the substance to produce the same effect.
Repeated attempts and failures to limit substance use.
Inability to fulfill major responsibilities at home, school, or work.
Needing the substance to relieve withdrawal symptoms.
Isolating yourself from your family.
Are you struggling with an addiction? Does it control your life? Are you tired of the cycle that repeats itself over and over again? You are not alone.
God loves you and has a good plan for your life. It is not a coincidence that you are reading this today. God is reaching out to you, trying to get through to you. Today could be the best day of your life and a brand-new beginning. There is HOPE!
