"I Thought I Was The Only One"

Hey everyone! Our next coalition meeting will be at noon on Sept. 25 at The Boys and Girls Club in Kilgore (724 Harris St., Kilgore, TX). I'm really looking forward to it and I hope you can make it.

Here's something that struck me this week:

In "Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America's Greatest Tragedy" author David Sheff describes a teen, Luke, who is addicted to drugs. When he reads Nic Sheff's (the author's son) book "Tweak" about Nic's own addiction, Luke said "I was almost vibrating because I thought I was the only one [who felt this way]."

I've come to understand that thought is never true. We are never the only one. But so many people believe that, don't they?

That voice is shame speaking. And shame is a liar. But we're so afraid that it's true, that we are the only one, that if we tell someone, we will be shunned, rejected and hurt. We are afraid we will be alone and exposed.

So we hide.

I believe shame is one of the biggest enemies of the human race.

The idea of shame was always kind of nebulous for me until I heard Dr. Brene Brown, a shame researcher based out of Houston, define it.

"Guilt is different from shame. Guilt says 'I made a mistake.' Shame says 'I am a mistake.'"

So what does all this have to do with prevention?

Luke, the boy from the story, had the opportunity to meet Nic when he came to speak at his school. The two talked for a long time afterward and the author signed Luke's book with this inscription:

"Dear Luke, everything is going to be all right."

Luke went home and cried, told his parents about his drug addiction and went into rehab.

Maybe if kids know they can come to their parents, their teachers, the adults in their lives and tell them about their struggles with drugs, maybe if we make a point to let them know that it is safe, no matter how serious the issue they bring to us, maybe fewer kids will get caught in the cycle of addiction.

Do the kids in your life know that?