• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Former heroin addict dives into how he overcame his deadly habit

Home> Community

Published 07:07 10 Aug 2023 GMT+1

Former heroin addict dives into how he overcame his deadly habit

David has shared his struggles with addiction and how he got his life back on track.

Velentina Boulter

Velentina Boulter

A former heroin addict has opened up about his struggles with addiction and how he got his life back on track.

“What people don’t understand about the physical nature of a drug addiction is you have to have it. It’s not a mental thing that you want it, you have to have it or you’re sick as a dog,” David said.

In a recent episode of LADbible Australia’s MY SIDE series, David opened up about how being sexually abused as a child led him to his addiction.

“Because I was young and sort of couldn’t put language to what was going on and didn’t understand it, it just sort of spiralled," he said.

Advert

“Which is what sort of spiralled the drug use which ended up pretty much out of control for 10 years.”

By the time he was 18, David says he was a full-blown heroin addict.

“You’re just constantly on the lookout to buy money for drugs, that’s your whole life," he said. “It’s a miserable life. There’s nothing good about it.”

His addiction lasted until he was around 24.

“I just got so sick of being a slave to a clinic and a slave to this and a slave to that, I just wanted my life back," he said.

Advert

David remembers sitting on the couch telling his friend that he was determined to break his addiction and move on with his life.

“I said ‘You know what I’m going to do, I'm going to train until I’m the strongest bloke on earth," he recalled.

“To turn the addiction around I knew that you can’t just stop doing something, you have to replace it with something that takes an equal amount of time.

“So I swapped one addiction for another and became obsessed with the gym.”

Taking up exercise became a real turning point for David as it allowed him to finally live the life he had always wanted and replace his heroin addiction.

Advert

Recently, David bumped into that same friend who he had talked to on the couch about getting over his problem.

“He hadn’t seen me in years and I saw him in Woolies a couple of years ago and he came past and said you weren't kidding were you," he said.

Photo
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

“I actually started playing football again to the point where I went and coached for five years.”

In his years as coach, David won four grand finals, including one year where his team went undefeated.

Advert

While David has been able to overcome his heroin addiction, he is still faced with many struggles.

“I’m not going to say it was easy," he said.

He revealed that he still finds it hard to fall asleep at night and that 'there’s just that constant thing of anxiety always hanging over me'.

But one piece of advice which has helped David is treating himself the way a mate would.

“I’m not trying to bag myself or put myself down, I’m trying to come up with positive ways to work through certain things," he explained.

Advert

“Life does get better, you just gotta hang in there.”

If you or someone you know is affected by drug addiction you can call the National Alcohol And Other Drug Hotline on 1800 250 015.

Featured Image Credit: YouTube/LADbible Australia

Topics: News, Australia, Drugs, Health

Velentina Boulter
Velentina Boulter

Velentina is a freelance journalist for LADbible who is currently studying journalism at The University of Melbourne. When she's not typing away at her laptop, she can usually be found overanalysing movies or making terrible jokes.

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • Former Olympic Swimmer James Magnussen going for World Record at Enhanced Games on steroids 'feels 18 again'
  • Pete Doherty risks amputation in worrying health update as he's told he was 'healthier on heroin'
  • Tourist dies in ritual in Peru after drinking hallucinogenic ayahuasca tea during 'spiritual tourism session'
  • Parents of 19-year-old girl who died after trying viral 'dusting' trend warn others about its deadly risks

Choose your content:

2 hours ago
3 hours ago
4 hours ago
20 hours ago
  • 2 hours ago

    Melania Trump ‘body double’ conspiracy theory sparked after people spot what she did at parade

    The great Melania Trump conspiracy theory lives on

    Community
  • 3 hours ago

    Son of man who shot his brother’s karate instructor live on TV shares important detail 40 years later

    Gary Plauché waited in disguise before shooting Jeffrey Doucet

    Community
  • 4 hours ago

    Woman dumps her boyfriend after ChatGPT tells her to

    The Essex woman spoke to it daily to get over the breakup quickly

    Community
  • 20 hours ago

    Man who has spent years studying natural disasters reveals how likely an apocalyptic-level event really is

    The likelihood of a natural apocalyptic-level event wiping us all out has been revealed

    Community