Client Highlight: Patrick M.
Can you describe the moment when you realized you wanted to start your journey of recovery?
“I started drinking every day in my early twenties. There was a time when I decided to see if I could stop. It was the first day of not drinking and I was kind of okay, but by day two I couldn't sit in my own skin. I already knew drinking every day means there’s a problem, but that was the moment where I was like ‘okay, this is definitely an addiction and I need to do something about it’. It took awhile after that before I got it together, but that’s really when I realized it wasn’t a problem I was equipped to handle on my own.”
What have been some of the most significant challenges you’ve encountered and how have you handled them along the way?
“If I’m not doing anything, it’s just a matter of time before my mind goes to thoughts of using, so I’ve learned how to stay busy when I’m not really the kind of person who likes to be busy. I like doing nothing, but I know I have to keep myself occupied now.
Also, my mental health is another. I was covering up a lot of stuff by using, like anxiety and depression. Without being able to deal with those with substances, those problems were right in my face and I knew I had to start dealing with them right then.”
Have you discovered new activities or practices that have positively impacted your recovery?
“Being a father. Entertaining a toddler is really what’s coming to my mind. Like I mentioned about downtime, there’s not a lot of downtime when you’re a new parent. So taking care of myself and doing the things that need to be done- there’s always a list of things that I should be or could be doing. I’m also going back to school, so there’s things that I need to do every day with that too.”
What Driftless Recovery services have you/do you participate in? What have you found helpful?
“So I’ve been seeing my therapist Ryan for probably over two years now. I also did Relapse Prevention group with BethAnn and SOP twice a week. In early recovery, every week of staying away from substances makes such a huge difference, so having that accountability week after week and being able to talk about my issues and not just avoid them all together… I think I wouldn’t have been able to do it without that accountability of those 10 weeks each time. I had slips during those groups but the accountability in those groups was everything.”
What are some milestones or achievements you feel proud of?
“So I’m almost 2 years clean in a couple weeks. In terms of milestones, I go to NA, so the last recognized milestone is 18 months. That was crazy because the time between 1 year and 18 months clean felt like nothing, whereas every week early, early on would just feel like an eternity. So 18 months was really amazing because I realized life was getting back to normal, time was passing quickly, and I really felt free from the desire to use.
In terms of achievements, I’ve had a couple promotions at work. I’m a supervisor now at Gunderson, being able to be a reliable employee who they know is going to show up every day. I never would have thought because before my addiction, I had mental health issues, I didn’t do well in school, and I really didn’t think I was going to be able to function normally, so I’ve proven to myself that I can do the same things anybody else can and I can enjoy it while I’m doing it. That’s been a huge achievement- seeing what I’m capable of.”
What have you learned about yourself during your time in services?
“Like I said earlier, I’ve learned that as much as I like to do nothing, I really benefit from being busy. I’ve learned that I have way more energy to do things that I need to do or do things that I enjoy. I’m not held back by my mood or my anxiety and depression. & I’ve learned just what my preferences are in general, like the way I like to live my life. I really like routine and I never thought that having one would be a thing- I thought it would be impossible to be a normal person who wakes up at the same time every day, but just that structure I’ve learned can give me more time to think and do the stuff I care about.”
What plans/goals do you have for yourself moving forward?
“So I’m going to be graduating in 2026 at the rate I’m going. & I really, really like having kids, so I know I want to have more kids, and I really like the direction of my career, so I want to keep moving forward in both those areas of my life.”
Final message to the readers:
“Every time I made substantial progress, it was after I did something that I’d been afraid of doing or had been avoiding for a long time. Like, I put off getting a job for forever because I felt like I wasn’t going to be able to work until I got my mind straight. Then getting a job was a huge part of my recovery. There’s just so many points in my story where I was at a loss and I was like ‘I guess I can try that one thing that I’ve been doing everything in my power to avoid’ and then it was never as bad as I was afraid it was going to be. It just opened up these doorways for what my life is now that I never thought I would be able to have access to.”
