Stories of Addiction

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Colleen

As a parent of an addict, it is difficult to toe the line between supporting and enabling, especially when the trust between parent and child has deteriorated. By the time he was 16, Colleen noticed that her fun-loving and family-oriented son, Charlie, was becoming secretive and withdrawn. Eventually, she discovered he was using drugs. A year later, Charlie's father died, and from then on, it got worse. After putting him in a 30-day rehab program (that failed), and bailing him out of jail numerous times, Colleen finally realized that she no longer wanted to be an enabler. Charlie is now studying to become a Chemical Dependency Counselor at Suffolk County Community College. If you or someone you love needs help, contact The Kolbe Center, at Hope House Ministries, 631-473-0025, or Long Island Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependence (LICADD), at 516-747-2606.