With the release and the reading of my book Chasing Carson: A Family’s Journey through Adolescence, Addiction and Recovery, I am quite sure there will be questions and comments. I encourage you all to ask away. Our story is gritty…substance use is not pretty and those afflicted with the disease of addiction are not usually liked very well. Oh, and let’s add in adolescence which during those years some teens can be hard to live with, just ask my parents. My dad made my stepmom quit her job one summer to babysit me…..No Lie!
Let’s get real…Let’s talk about the grit…Let’s talk about our messy lives…Why?! Because not talking about it is killing our kids (fentanyl poisoning) or at the very least leaving them hearing impaired (Carson) or schizophrenic ( 2 of our family friend’s kids), homeless or in jail.
Teen experimentation is dangerous these days. The education on drugs and the brain has got to catch up in our homes and in our schools.
This is a community crisis!
Each time I see a comment about Chasing Carson, I have to read between tears, thinking of how we almost lost our precious grandson. I will never forget seeing him in the hospital, crying, agitated, scared and knowing that we were all those things too. We , the grandparents, had another grandchild and his parents going through a very rough time He started running around with a very rough crowd and getting into another type of addiction. Stealing, vaping, pot, breaking things. He finally turned himself in and got into a treatment program. He started reading “Chasing Carson” and told his dad that he thought Dawn was writing about him! I highly recommend this book to anyone raising children. This is a highly effective way to start the narrative with our young people.
Thank you to my step-mother for continuing the conversation. The disease of adolescent addiction is real and has affected our family more times than not. It’s unfortunate. Let’s work together to create and bring programs to our schools and homes that will help in prevention. Look into Mind Up (a Goldie Hawn initiative), OperationParent.org and an online support group for parents who have adolescents and young adults struggling with Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders.