Why Do People Start Using Heroin? The Story of Inviting Addiction

 

When it comes to heroin addiction, so many people ask, "Why would you ever even try heroin, if you know how dangerous it really is?" This is really an unfair question to ask anyone, and most have a hard time answering that question. There is one person that can answer this question very well, and this is her story:

Inviting Addiction
Maria K.'s Story:

Honestly, I couldn't wait to try heroin! I think it was the first time I heard it referred to as "The Cadillac of Drugs." That descriptor was enough to lull me into wanting to try it out for myself. I went into trying heroin with the idea that it was only going to be once, it was going to be an experiment, and I wouldn't do it ever again -- so I couldn't get addicted. That is not the way it happened...

The feeling of heroin, the first time you try it, is enough to shatter even the hardest fears of addiction. The feeling of being on heroin is likened waking up in a warm bed in the morning, cuddling in the blankets, and wanting to stay in that comfort for the rest of the day. Everyone has had this feeling, waking up in the morning and not wanting to get up and go to work or school, and then smiling as you bury yourself back into the sheets. Heroin is this feeling, rushing through your veins and leaving you in a warm place where you can just soak up the feelings of comfort.

I was hooked. Immediately, any wants or desires that I had in life were washed over with the feeling that I was comfortable in bed, and never wanted to get back out of bed. This unfortunately meant, I just wanted to do heroin and lay sleepily around forever. I always got the image of a warm bed, covered in fluffy blankets when I shot heroin, but soon the bed was less comfortable every time I would use. The blankets weren't as comfortable, and felt almost dirty against the pains of fighting withdrawal in my skin. The bed was no longer the comfortable place that I wanted to sleep away my life in.

Heroin Overdose

The inevitable finally came. I kept returning to that bed, even though it no longer comforted me the way it used to, until I was finally jolted out of bed by an overdose. It was a very close call, though I survived, and spent a week in the hospital recovering. I lay there in the hospital bed for days, not even able to get out and stand up. It frighteningly seemed like I would be laying in this bed for the rest of my short life.

Now, when I think back to my time using heroin, I don't think of my comfortable bed with all the fluffy pillows and comfort; I think of the uncomfortable hospital bed that I was forced into. The image of that bed is what keeps me moving forward, living a life of sobriety, and living each day to the fullest.

 

Maria K. was a heroin addict for 3.5 years before her overdose, and subsequent sobriety. Today, she lives happily in La Mesa, CA with her husband, and works in the medical industry. Her story is chilling, true, and is a great example of how the image of drugs can go from inviting to foreboding in a very short time.