July 17, 2002 a boy by the name of Jake Lambert was born. Little did he or his parents know but he was born with a different mind from the rest. He was born with addiction disorder. All he wanted was to feel accepted, loved, and to never feel alone. Jake didn’t know why but he could never feel those things, no matter what others told him. He was a very sad and lonely boy thinking he was trapped and that there was nothing he could do to change it.
By the time he was 13 he had found drugs and alcohol. This caused his whole world to change because when he was high, he could finally feel those things he had always wanted. He quickly began to overuse them and by the time he was 14 he had ran away leaving him homeless for a couple of months. All of his interactions, whether it be with friends or adults, had been to get something out of someone. He became extremely sad, lonely, depressed, and filled with anxiety. All he could do day after day was focus on when he was going to get high next or when he could steal money from someone. He became very suicidal because this was a very lonely and sad way of life. Leading him to believe no one cared about him and he had nowhere to turn.
His parents became very sad, missing their little boy that they loved so much and often left him calls or texts asking him to come home. They were terrified of what he was doing, where he was, and who he was hanging out with. He didn’t care, all he cared about was himself and how he felt. This took him down dark paths of only thinking about himself and what others thought of him. Drugs started destroying Jakes mind and body leading him to become a horrible human being. He felt like he was walking with the dead.
Eventually Jake came home to his parents who were overjoyed to see him, but his parents didn’t know Jake had only come home for one reason. That reason was he really wanted money and so he began stealing from them every night. He also stole $1,800 from his brothers. Jake didn’t give a single thought about anyone other than himself. Jake’s mom was terrified of what she had raised. She was so sad to see her son in this condition of only caring about himself and constantly filling his body with drugs. She would try to save him by taking away his phone or grounding him. Jake had a second phone so he could always be in contact with his friends and drug dealers and would hangout with his friends regardless of what his mother said. She cried almost every time she saw him because she didn’t know how to help him. There was nothing she could do to help him.
Jake had began yelling very hateful things toward his parents and it only made them more sad. Jake didn’t realize all his parents did was care about them. He was under all of these crazy delusions that his parents hated him and wanted him gone. He thought the world was out to get him and that it was a very dark and evil place. He and his parents never got along and one night he got in another huge fight with his parents. He ran away again and he was alone. Once again.
He then started taking harder and harder drugs but this was only hurting the situation. He felt so empty and so alone and cried often thinking he couldn’t go anywhere with his life and he felt trapped. He finally came home and his parents sent him to a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center. Jake continued to use drugs and nothing changed he was still so sad and lonely and yelled at his parents every chance he could.
He hated that he couldn’t be normal and just wanted to fit in with the kids at his school. Jake’s new friends at his rehab showed him what true love was but Jake didn’t accept it, he denied it and still felt alone. Jake’s counselors decided he needed more help because if he kept living in Kansas City he was going to die.
He got sent down to Phoenix, Arizona and he was very angry about this. Jake didn’t want anything to do with the people there and treated all of them terribly. They continued to put up with Jake no matter what he would tell them. Jake struggled for a couple of weeks and was unwilling to take their direction. He was miserable because he felt like he was stuck with a bunch of losers. Jake didn’t want to give up his way of life. Finally, one day Jake got broken down and he cracked. He cried and finally talked about how sad he is, how much he hates himself and how he was terrified of the future. That was the day everything changed and Jake was willing to try what they were telling him about. He put in effort to be there with others and finally make real friendships. He then learned how to finally accept love. He learned how to love himself and how to love others. Jake experienced a psychic change and everything he thought to be true changed. The way he thought changed and the way he viewed things changed. He realized being sober was so much better than using drugs. Jake was on top of the world thinking there was no one who was as happy as he was. Jake finally got what he had been wanting his whole life. He finally felt accepted, loved, and didn’t feel alone anymore. Jake was then a wonderful person to all of his friends. He learned how to love others and started helping others. Helping others became Jake’s new form of dope.
When he came home he didn’t go right back to using drugs despite the odds. He was finally sober and finally happy for the first time in his life. This was what he was missing his whole life. When he got back he continued doing an outpatient program and worked on himself every day. He finally let others see the true Jake. He grew great relationships with his parents and friends.
I am Jake and this is a true story about me. I’ve never been as happy as I am right now with my life. I now have a year and almost 4 months sober. Now I spend a lot of my time helping other people who were just like me. It’s the most fulfilling thing I’ve ever done. I now know how to treat my addiction and couldn’t be more grateful. I’m also extremely grateful for my parents sending me to rehab because without them I wouldn’t be alive today.
