For 26 months, I went through the same routine, more or less, day by day. It sounds feeble, but yes, I was forced to belive that I was a drug addict and an alcoholic. That old saying, "When you tell yourself something for long enough, you start to belive it," surely applies to me. Standing up in group and saying, "Look, I really don't think I am addicted to marijuana or alcohol, and I really don't think that I will end up dead or in jail without this program," didn't last very long. Why? Because I sat on first level for over six months until I "got honest."
This was absolutely humiliating for me. I was forced to label myself a serious addict, and I spent over two years dealing with "issues" that led to my "serious drug problem."
I believe that Pathway did help me to grow up and take responsibility for my actions, but 26 months being treated for addiction? Just to clarify this, I did take that "first drink" a couple of years ago, and believe it or not, I am definitely not an alcoholic. I drink maybe once or twice a month, and sure, I've even been drunk a few times, but is that really that bad? Keep in mind, I am a junior in college with a 3.74 GPA, I have a great relationship with my family, great friends, (some from Pathway, and by the way, it seems as if they're not alcoholics either), a wonderful girlfriend, and overall, a pretty decent life. Now, you may say, "Well, PFC gave you that." I would reply they absolutely did not. I realized in about a month at Pathway that I needed to be more responsible. I was in there for 26, and I was treated for a disease that I don't even have.
My parents spent thousand of dollars on my PFC stay (Someone mentioned 30,000?) Well, my parents spent WELL over that. My parents were told that all of this time and money was necessary so that I wouldn't end up in jail or dead. Admittedly, I can't positivly prove that I wouldn't have ended up in these situations, but the fact remains that PFC supporters can spout off these predictions all day, BUT the happenings that I speak of involving Pathway actually did happen, and they were horrible!
I appreciate supporters writing on this site (sometimes), and I respect their opinions, but what I say about what I went through in Pathway is FACT, not hypothesis, and I belive it was wrong. Many people have said, "Well just get over it." Do you think I haven't tried that? I would love to "Just get over it."
Anyway, thank you for listening, and I'll see you all later. EMSR
[ This Message was edited by: SurvivorEMSR on 2003-07-03 08:23 ]