A journey into and out of heroin addiction - Part 4

In this briefing we have the concluding part of Lydia's journey. A second attempt at treatment seems to helping Lydia to make headway into her recovery from addiction and to finally start being the person she wants to be.

"It was like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I could see other people getting and staying off the drugs, so there was no reason why I couldn’t do it. That day was a turning point for me."

A journey into and out of heroin addiction - Part 3

Life for lydia has got a lot worse since part 2. In this briefing we follow Lydia's life as it spirals down into prostitution and crack addiction. Her first foray into treatment has failed and things just seem to be getting worse and worse for her.

"I felt like I had been failed. I had put everything into treatment and trying to change, but nothing had worked. I couldn’t really see any way forward – I felt trapped in a vicious cycle. That was until I met a friend who told me about the amount of money I could make working on the streets."

A journey into and out of heroin addiction - Part 2

In my last Background Briefing, we began the story of Lydia’s journey into addiction. In this Briefing, we hand over to the imaginary character of Lydia, to explain how addiction took control of her life, and her first experiences of treatment.

“Trying to juggle being in treatment and getting enough money for my heroin habit was really difficult. My days were taken up with being at the treatment centre, so I had to take risks to get money in the evenings. It was becoming increasingly difficult, but I couldn’t see a way out. I felt like I was losing even more control of my life.”