T h e H y p e B IG R E A D s
Lighting up: Is it that easy to stop?
her mother, but dabbles with Class A drugs. She said: “I am far from an addict, I know when to stop.” But, for some, stopping just isn’t that easy. Samantha Reynolds, also from Brighton, lived with her sister’s drug addiction for over four years. “From the age of 16 my older sister, Sophie, started smoking weed and drinking a lot. I didn’t think anything of it. At the time, quite a lot of people in our friendship group were doing it. “Sophie tried to hide it. She made sure she didn't come home high or drunk; nobody suspected a thing.” The problem worsened later that year when smoking weed became part of Sophie’s daily routine. “She used to skip college to go and sit in a field near our house with her friends and get high all day. Mum used to ask questions, and I used to have to lie and make up excuses for her. I hated myself for lying to my mum.” Sophie was a likeable, social person and used to get away with anything. Later that year, she started taking cocaine; lost loads of weight and became more aggressive.
“I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to tell my mum before it got out of hand. Sophie kept telling me that she wasn’t an addict, she could stop at any point and I believed her. Til one day, I came home after a day at work, and went into the bedroom to find it in a complete mess. There were strikes of fine white powder on a cd case, rolled up paper on the floor, two empty bottles of vodka and ash all over the window sill. I had a savings box under my bed, which had £150 inside, but when I opened it up there was nothing in there. “Then I knew enough was enough, my sister needed help. Not the kind of help my mum or I could give her, she needed professional help. Unfortunately, mum worked nights so I had to sit up and wait for her to come home. “I remember taking her into our bedroom, showing her all the evidence that Sophie was a drug abuser. I sat her down and told her everything. It was horrible seeing my mum so upset. I just wanted my fun-loving sister back. “The next day my mum told my sister they were going on a shopping trip, but really, they were going to a rehabilitation centre. My mum never told me what happened when they got
"Sophie kept telling me that she wasn't an addict and she could stop at any point. I believed her."
there or what was said. “They were the longest two months ever, but, when my sister came home it was like looking at the old Sophie. The one I used to be able to have a laugh with and enjoy being with. I think telling my mum and getting Sophie the help she needed was the best thing I ever did.” Psychological counselor, Mike Lever, said: “A child or teenager's primary need is love and attention. What will increasingly happen when living with an alcoholic or drug abuser is they will experience anger, while wanting attention. A child living in these surroundings will begin to form a belief that this is what life is and then, like any belief, go into the outside world and try to prove the belief right. They will often subconsciously seek this poor quality of attention because it was their first experiences of things in life, it sort of feels right, and it feels familiar. “An alcoholic, like any person with an addiction, is extremely needy, the more they get- the more they need. This means that the child's needs increasingly don't get met. In our childhood we have our first experiences and these then pave the way for how we experience life thereafter” H If you think you or anyone in your family have a drug or alcohol problem, visit www.nhs. uk/Livewell/Addiction for help.
words: tehona waugh / design: charley ward
21