Matt started drinking when he was 16 years old. It helped him to finally fit in with his peers, he says, but it set him on a path of addiction that nearly claimed his life.

It also scarred an already strained relationship with his parents. Matt says his mom’s job required her to work evenings, so she was out of the home much of the time. And though his dad was physically there more often, Matt says his father’s own addiction issues made his family situation that much more difficult.

From there, Matt, who asked that his last name not be used, started smoking marijuana “every now and then.” However, after enrolling in college, but dropping out, and getting a job, but quitting it, he was smoking and drinking every day.

Everything was secondary to his drug habit. And it was all downhill from there.

“I started doing cocaine and then went from that to meth and pills, pretty much whatever I could get my hands on,” Matt says.

Still living at home, Matt’s parents wouldn’t leave him alone in the house for fear he would steal from them to buy drugs. He stole from other family members as well so he could continue to get high.

As his father entered a 12-step fellowship and got clean, Matt’s own addiction left him feeling empty and his family that much more frustrated.

On numerous occasions, Matt says, he tried to take his own life.

“It just, for me, got to a point where I was trying to die because I just kind of bought into all the negative stuff everybody always said about me.”

A WIDESPREAD PROBLEM

According to Jason Hinckley, a substance abuse counselor at Preferred Family Healthcare in St. Joseph, Matt’s story is all too common.

“It’s pretty widespread through and through” in the St. Joseph area, he says, and it affects families of all backgrounds. “A lot of people would say that it’s just in a more impoverished area, where I would disagree and say it’s just more visual.”

Warning signs that a teen is using drugs are plentiful, Mr. Hinckley says. Withdrawal from friends and family. Isolation. A change in attitude, friends, interests or hobbies. Dropping grades. What becomes difficult is distinguishing the warning signs from the normal, but difficult, changes teens are going through anyway.

If it is related to drug use, the changes are often abrupt and drastic, Mr. Hinckley says.

There are just as many reasons that teens turn to drugs in the first place, including peer pressure, a lack of self-esteem and sometimes simple curiosity or even boredom.

But when it comes to recovery, why a teen started to abuse drugs isn’t as important as their reasons for continuing to use. Mr. Hinckley says the lifestyle often becomes just as addictive as the drugs themselves, and just as much a barrier to recovery.

RECOVERY

Now 29 years old, Matt’s recovery, and the healing process with his family, began on his 20th birthday — as he lay in the ICU after overdosing.

Matt’s dad, who had stayed clean and now works at a treatment center, stayed with him despite their broken past.

“He gave me an ultimatum, either you go to work with me or ... ” he trails off. “So I went to the rehab and got introduced to the 12-step fellowship.”

The next year and a half was a struggle for Matt, but he continued in the program.

Then, a friend’s death led to a relapse. Matt says he got high at the funeral, but this time he was struck by the enormity of his problem and how it affected everybody around him.

“It hit me just how powerful everything was and that I really did need help,” Matt says.

His friend’s funeral was June 20, 2003, and Matt, who still attends 12-step fellowship meetings, hasn’t used since.

KNOW WHERE TO TURN

To families who are struggling through issues like these, Matt says to be assured that recovery is within reach, even if it requires a lot of patience and tough love.

“Change is possible, no matter what it seems like,” he says.

Now a father himself, Matt is working to break the cycle of drug use by setting a positive example, taking his kids to church — faith was “100 percent” part of his recovery, he says — and spending quality time with his children.

Mr. Hinckley says there are numerous places for families affected by drug use to turn, such as Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous, as well as support groups for family members of addicts. In St. Joseph, Preferred Family Healthcare and Family Guidance Center for Behavioral Healthcare, among others, provide counseling services, and teens also can approach school counselors or a trusted religious leader for help.