You Don’t Have to Keep Living That Way

<p>I just finished watching&nbsp;<a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81095069" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Painkiller</a>&nbsp;on Netflix. It was very similar to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9174558/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Dopesick</a>&nbsp;and my husband even asked why I was watching it because I already knew the whole story. If you are unaware of either show, they tell the disturbing story of the rise of OxyContin and the twisted Sackler family who are basically big pharma drug dealers.</p> <p>Reminders are key to my sobriety. Being reminded of how good it starts and then how bad it can end up is essential to staying sober.</p> <p>Since I rarely go to AA, I choose to remind myself of the terrors of addiction through books, podcasts, and shows/videos. If I continue to remind myself, no sneaky thoughts come into my mind reminding myself of only the good times.</p> <p>That is how I relapsed each time in the past. I would only remember the good times and cognitive dissonance would stand in the way of my success.</p> <p>Watching shows like this makes my heart ache for the person going through addiction, even if it is fiction. It&rsquo;s not really fiction in my eyes because it happens all the time. It can be so easy to get stuck in the vicious cycle of addiction.</p> <p>I was never into or addicted to opiates but I can see how easily it traps a person. In the show, a reputable mechanic is thrown off a tractor onto his back resulting in some severe injuries. He is given OxyContin and eventually gets addicted, his life spirals and he begins to lose it all.</p> <p><a href="https://medium.com/black-bear-recovery/you-dont-have-to-keep-living-that-way-23f94a6c5f1">Click Here</a></p>