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Addiction and mental health disorders can rob families of their loved ones and tear an effected family member apart both physically and mentally. No one wants to be out of control of his or her actions, but when addiction and/or mental illness claim a stake in a person's life that's what often happens. Fortunately, there is help available and a person can recover and reclaim his or her life at the Casa Palmera Drug Rehab Facility.

y sobriety date is 7/25/02 To be grateful to have a new life? I would prefer to say I am grateful to have a life now. I had been dead inside for so long before I ever picked up a drink. There was a tiny, tiny spark of light inside me that was life, and I now believe it was my soul that refused to ever fade away throughout my years.

I had no skills in setting boundaries. My childhood, there were too many unhappy or angry people, I was was silently self assigned and unnanmously voted the one to keep the smile and cheer everyone up. Meanwhile I hurt inside, and was searching for inner and outward peace.

I am a recovering alcoholic. My name is Bill M. I was born and raised in Hawaii. The Leeward side of Oahu. I grew up in a middle class neighborhood. I am the second youngest of 13 children. 12 boys and 1 girl. Both my parents worked hard. They were very strict when it came to boundaries. They had to be I guess with that many children. Along with working hard came what seem to me at a young age was the pleasure of drinking alcohol.

Why not we deserved it!! Along with this came a lot of domestic problems like fights, abuse, and neglect. At times we were left to think and do for ourselves. During my childhood if was difficult being the 2nd youngest. My youngest brother appeared to be the pet of the family so that left me to defend for myself when it came to hand me downs. I basically fought my way through childhood into my teenage years. By the time I was 14 years old I said to myself, "I wasn't going to be like anyone in my family". So I did what I thought was best for me. Well sad to say I ended up a lot worse off than my family.

My name is Regina, I am 31 years old. I have been clean from alcohol and drugs for 7 years now. I have 2 children and a husband. I live in my own home and have 2 vehicles and I have a dog.

When I first started using alcohol I was 11 years old. I found out I was adopted and I started looking for acceptance in whoever and what ever. I started sneaking out of the house late at night to hang out with the people who were drinking.

I started smoking weed at the age of 13. Again, I hung with the people who were accepting me because I could drink alot and smoke alot.

During those few years, I experienced rape twice, foster homes, pregnacy and abortion.

I began using drugs and alcohol at age 11. I remember thinking that Black Beauties were a magic pill that gave me the insight to conquer the troubles of a teen in an alcoholic family. My active addiction took me to places that you can only imagine. I was the single mother of three by the time I was 21 years old. I had taken care of others for most of my life and now I just had to get away. I took off to another state with a man who was just one in a long string of faceless people who I uses and abused. Although I knew at this time that I had a problem I was still unable and unwilling to give up the woderful fantasy that I was in control. I began shooting up methamphatemine about that time and the ability to care for my children was deminishing. My mother finally interviened for the safety of my children and took them away from me. This was a new ticket to act and behave in the most absurd fashion that I could concoct.

I was scared. I was scared and excited about living a lifejust as it promises in the AA literature--beyond my wildest dreams. After two solid days of plane travel, I dont know how many time zones, and a quantitative leap into tomorrow (India is a day ahead) I landed about a thousand kilometers south of Bombay, bleary eyed and jet lagged in Bangalore, the capital of Indias Silicon Valley. The purpose of my relocation was to work, amazingly enough, in my field, as a Language Specialist (LS) for Microsoft. My primary purpose, for the first day, was to find an AA meeting and connect with other sober alcoholics as soon as possible. With the ego surging, time was of the essence.

After growing up a fairly "normal" kid, my focus shifted from school, family, sports and church to going to parties and getting drunk when I turned sixteen. My alcoholism and drug use led me down a road to drop out of two colleges, quit playing sports and I separated myself from all of the good people in my life who cared about me.

Several years later I was so hopeless and helpless from being drunk every day and taking ecstasy and smoking marijuana that I didn't want to live anymore.

Instead of taking my own life I reached to my family for help. They found a place called Narconon that was a non-traditional treatment program and it truly helped me save my life.

My name is Maureen Schaefer and I am a 48 yr. old recovering alcoholic from Lima, OH. I started to drink at age 18 to fit in with my friends, and hopefully make friends, since I thought it was drinking that gave me a personality. I never thought I had anything to offer without it. I found that everyone laughed with me when I was drunk, but of course it wasn't long before everyone was laughing at me instead. I then retreated and drank alone at home. Drinking stripped me of everything I held dear in this world-a marriage, the love and respect of my children, yet I still lived in denial that I couldn't be an alcoholic because I was a mom and mom's just didn't do that. Well, I did for 28 long years and at the end had lost it all, including myself in the process. You stop growing when you enter addiction, and so I had stopped at age 18 and never learned how to live in a grown-up world. So I did what I did best-just drank and hid from life.