John’s Story

John is a 40 year old male, residing in Greenock and was referred to Moving On after a number of months stable on a Methadone Prescription. John had a long history of drug use, from smoking cannabis as a teenager, progressing to using ‘party’ drugs (ecstasy and amphetamine) to smoking Crack Cocaine and Heroin as well as using large amounts of Diazepam and Temazepam.

John settled in very well and embraced all aspects the service has to offer, which saw him attending Moving On every day working on Key Recovery Skills, and also provided him with a New Positive Structure and Routine to his days.

John continued  to have stability  in Reducing his Drug Use whilst working with Moving On alongside  his worker and psychiatrist  at ADRS. However after a personal relationship break down John struggled to maintain his abstinence, and rather than reach out John retreated into himself and ultimately relapse occurred.

After a month or so John contacted Moving On and requested to re engage with the programme, John began the programme again and achieved steady reductions of drug use and successfully achieved drug free living.

John has maintained his Drug Free Living for nearly a year now but keeps in touch in an Aftercare Meetings and meets his keyworker  every three weeks or so which suits John, he also continues to attend Weekly Peer Led SMART Recovery Meetings held within Moving On as he states these help him to stay on track.

John continues to enjoy his pursuit of physical exercise which he got into as part of his Personal Recovery  Programme which included access to a Inverclyde Leisure Pass provided by Moving On. He plays regular 5 asides, enjoys time with his family and has regular visits with his 2 children. John now attends college and continues to drop in to the service every now and then if he feels he needs any help with college such as sending emails, photocopying etc.

John also chats away to current service users if they happen to be present at the same time he pops into Moving On. He gladly chats to them of the value he felt the service was to him and offers encouragement that they too can recovery and move on with their lives.

“ I never really thought that I could do this and it hasn’t been easy but it was worth it, my life is so much better now and I feel brilliant, my family finally have something to be proud of me for and that feels amazing”