It was always a good day: Recovery from heroin addiction

Jessie Skillman of Waynesboro, Virginia found his escape from the real world by snorting heroin for 18 months.

The drug fueled a false optimism.

"It was always a good day," said the 24-year-old Jessie, who at one point was spending $75 to $100 a day on the drug, and traveling as far as Baltimore to get it. He graduated to heroin after earlier taking pain medications such as Vicodin and Dilaudid for a thumb injury.

Jessie's world came crashing down in 2005, when he blacked out and wrecked his car on U.S. 250 outside Waynesboro, and was stopped by police for driving with three flat tires and part of a tree stuck in his windshield wipers.

Already on federal probation, Jessie's probation officer suggested he enter detox treatment, which he did through the Valley Community Services Board.

"I stayed in bed and just shook," he recalled. Jessie survived the seven-day detox program with the help of counselors and group therapy. And after his initial treatment, he committed to a three-times-a-week outpatient program for nine months that included group therapy and work with counselors for two hours a session.

"The other patients pull you through. You become a family," said Jessie, who also credits counselors with listening and helping him beat his addiction.

For Jessie, his bout with heroin "was a terrible experience, a nightmare, the first thing I thought about in the morning." But now, he is concentrating on his work as a caterer.

Jessie’s advice for any person with a substance abuse problem: "Get detox and get yourself through. Go in for after addiction treatment and come out clean."


Read another addiction recovery story, or read more from the source article by Bob Stuart.