Tom (not his real name) has a history of drug and alcohol abuse since the age of 13. He is now 18. Tom is a highly intelligent,and articulate young man, and comes from a comfortable, middle class family in Cork. Having attended three private schools in four years, Tom is now making a good recovery.
This is his story: "I started drinking when one of my mates brought a bottle of vodka from his neighbour's house. We went to the park and drank it. I got really wasted and ended up in hospital having my stomach pumped. It put me off for a few weeks but pretty soon after I was drinking cans. About a year later, I was offered hash in school.
I just loved drinking and wasn't going to school half the time. Eventually, I started getting arrested. I'd usually be doing one or the other, but it was mostly the drink. Hash was making me paranoid and I was getting into a lot of fights when I was drunk.
I kept with the same friends. All of them were doing pretty much the same things as me but they never drank on weekdays. I usually felt sick in the mornings and I'd just sit in one of my friend's houses for the day and recover.
It doesn't matter what school you're in. Everyone does it - drinking at weekends. That's why I thought it was OK. The first time I got arrested I was 14 and it was pretty scary. I had been stealing post out of letterboxes. Then I began to get arrested so often that I didn't take it seriously anymore. But the last time I got arrested for being drunk and disorderly and being caught with hash on me, it was really serious.
When I look back, I thought I was having fun, but it was only selfish fun - hurting other people around me and fighting a lot with people, like my dad. I didn't have a conversation with him in years. At the treatment centre, I started talking to counsellors about my life and the people I'd hurt.
Anybody can become an alcoholic. You think because you're young that it can't happen to you. It was such a waste of those years. Maybe I could have taken up a sport and have been good at it. I didn't want to go for treatment at all. I just did it to get my dad off my back for a week. When I went in the door, I never thought I'd stay six weeks. I'm very glad I did.
It's easier to cope and to concentrate in school. I'm hanging out with friends that don't drink. Some of them don't even smoke cigarettes, never mind hash. They're really cool and supportive, and proud of me for giving up drink and hash. I'm not in debt now or paranoid going down the road, afraid of the dealers. I got a few hidings in the past because I'd owe them a lot of money. Life's a lot easier now.
If you think you have a problem drinking or with hash, you should go to a Narcotics Anonymous or an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. There's probably more of a younger crowd in NA.
It's not what you'd expect at all. Not judgmental in any way. You can hear other people talking about the same problems as you. Just try it out and see."