My name’s Ryan* and I’m 18 years old. I got referred to Turning Point through my school when I was 16 because me and a few mates of mine had gone off-site to smoke a joint.
I didn’t want to be helped, and I didn’t want to stop using, but I got on really well with my key worker and just enjoyed the chats we had - we’d talk about really some interesting stuff.
They’ll start off the first session by asking ‘what are your goals?’ In my first session I said I don’t want to stop using drugs, I don’t want to stop, I just want to be aware, I want to have the knowledge so I can protect myself. And they did that with me.
As the sessions went on, I decided to change my goals – I wanted to stop using drugs. As the relationship gets better with your key worker, you feel more confident opening up about certain things. They in turn can help you realise certain triggers, and what’s driving certain types of behaviours.
For me, when I first started using drugs, it was really a lot of low self-esteem; it was a way for me to elevate myself in my social circle. But a lot of it was just pure curiosity.
But then it just got to a point where it was too much for me. I thought, this is destroying me, it’s destroying my family.
If I keep making stupid decisions like this, in ten years’ time I’m going to be in the same position I am in now, where it’s doing the same things, in the same places, with the same people, not actually growing as a person.
I would say my proudest achievement is actually being able to be honest not only with myself in how it’s affecting me, but also being honest with my family. Being a young person doing drugs, one of the sad things is the lying, because you don’t want your parents to know as they’ll be disappointed and won’t understand. All the drugs nearly completely destroyed our family. It put me into Care. The negative impact it had on all of my friends – it changed them. And the impact that had on their families is something I do feel partially responsible for.
Support is absolutely vital, and that’s one of the things Turning Point provides. Even if you don’t have anybody, even if it is just you, Turning Point is a way for you to get that support.
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