Page 15 - Silver Linings Issue3

LIFE
WAS OUT OF CONTROL.
15
SILVER LININGS MAGAZINE | ISSUE THREE | FALL 2021
“When the pandemic hit, that’s when my sobriety got rocky,” he says. “You get cabin fever and when addicts get bored, that’s not the best situation. The pandemic had an effect on a lot of recovering addicts.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 40 percent of U.S. adults reported struggling with mental health or substance use just a few months into the pandemic. Opioid
use in the U.S., which had begun to slowly recede before COVID, became an even bigger crisis in the country with more than 90,000 people dying of a drug overdose in the U.S. in 2020, according to the CDC.
Connor made it through, largely through his two main outlets: fitness and music.
“I talk to a lot of people, and everyone was going through the same thing. I know people who died; people I grew up with,” he says. “You have to
ride the wave, but it was tough. I thought about using a few times, but you have to focus on your outlets. I really concentrated on things like that, and my girlfriend helped a ton. At one point, I was quarantined for 10 days, I hated that. I was grumpy; I was an (expletive). I wasn’t the best version of me that I could be, but that was tough.”
Connor looks back fondly and gratefully on
his time at Silver Hill Hospital. He remembers the camaraderie at Scavetta House, the breakthroughs during therapy and the clinicians with whom he connected. He recalls the friendly but “tough when he needed to be” style of social worker Wallace Stacy, who is now a Senior Clinical Social Worker at Silver Hill.
“He was a sweetheart of a kid, and I was happy to be part of his recovery,” Wallace says. “It’s
amazing when a patient remembers the impact you made on them.”
After Silver Hill, Connor lived in sober houses and faithfully attended 12-step meetings. He now serves as a sponsor for other addicts.
“I was so desperate to get
high I jumped out of a window,”
“Long-term sobriety is possible. I’m 29 and I
got sober in my young 20s. I think it’s important to share stories for hope. It shows people can change. I used to use and abuse alcohol and other substances. My life is so different now.
It’s beautiful.
“People need to know there’s a light on the other side, you just have to keep at it and put in the work,” he says. “I want people to know that it’s worth it to have that feeling of safety in your life; to know that a loved one is not staying up all night thinking you might be dead. I want people to know there is hope and Silver Hill is a great community to start. There really is hope out there.”
“I love the life I live,” he says. “The journey started at Silver Hill Hospital. Getting sober was a good choice.”
Connor recalled.