Matt: What’s up everybody. This is Matt and Greg with Project Unbroken. And today we wanted to talk about how we got started in our drug addiction. Or maybe why we got started. We’ve been getting a lot of questions from parents or loved ones of addicts who are having a tough time understanding if they did something wrong or what the cause was for the person they care about to go down that path. So we can’t speak for everybody of course but maybe giving a little bit of insight into why we got started can help other people understand what the whole process is like.
Greg: Yeah so I think for me, well they say typically people start using drugs because they’re missing something, there’s an underlying problem. I think that’s the biggest thing they say, it’s an underlying problem. For me I think I started using because I was kind of bored. I got out of high school, I was going to college, which I didn’t really want to go to college. I was going for business. I knew I wanted to something business, but I wasn’t really sure what. So I was kind of bored, kind of going through the motions. And I think my use just came out of boredom and experimentation. I tried it once, I really liked it. I want to do that again sometime. I did it again, it eventually just started picking up. So for me, I guess you could say an underlying issue was boredom. I experimented. I was kind of bored with life at the time. I had no really set plans, started using, liked it, and just kept on picking up for me.
Matt: I guess that’s kind of similar to why I got started. And again, Greg and I were good friends in high school, and we fell into this together, so I’m sure we had a lot of similarities that led us down that path. But one thing for me is that when we got into it, it was a very specific time in my life. For the first time, I really was not doing anything. So I was no longer playing sports. I wasn’t really in a career that was fulfilling whatsoever. So again, I guess you could call it bored, but there was zero fulfillment in my life at all.
Greg: Good point because all through high school I had played sports. Even in my younger years, I played sports from the time I was 4 to 18. I think I got out of high school, and I was like, what do I have to work towards? I think that’s what it was. What am I working towards? And it wasn’t really anything there. So I might as well mess around a little bit, kind of experiment and have some fun. I think it led into addiction.
Matt: And I think that’s pretty common. Growing up I remember my parents always saying, “You have to play a sport or do something. You can’t just be hanging out after school.” And I didn’t really understand it at the time, but I guess that’s kind of what it leads to. Again, especially teenagers or you’re in your early 20s, drugs are going to be around. And if you’re not really doing anything, and you go down that path, there’s nothing to really stop you from moving in that direction. So I think that’s a big point.
Greg: Really good point. I think a lot of people do use because of other underlying issues, maybe like depression or they were abused or something like that. But I also do think for a lot of people it’s like what we said. You’re just kind of bored and experiment. You get caught in it, and before you know it, you’re addicted.
Matt: Yeah, we talk in a lot of our videos about trying to create a life for yourself that you don’t need to escape from. The issues is sometimes drugs can get in the way of that before you understand that you’re not in a good situation.
Greg: Yeah, good point.
Matt: So I think it’s important to have … if you’re talking about your child or a loved one or whatever, it’s important to make sure that they’re active and fulfilled and doing something to challenge them in a certain way or at least keep them mentally stimulated. I think that’s a really good way to keep them off of the path.
Greg: Very good point. To finish it up, I think a good time to look out for drug use is anytime, like we were saying, when maybe a child comes out of a situation where they were in something organized, then maybe they’re coming out of high school. They’re no longer in sports. They don’t know what they want to do. That’s the time you need to be on high alert, so maybe that’s something to look out for. So that’s it for today, guys. Comment below. Let us know why did you start using if you’re a user, if you’re a loved one, did this help you. Let us know. Comment, share, we’ll talk to you all soon.
Matt: See you guys.
