This grid was used by the second coder and then modified if necessary by consensus. The same process was applied to the goodbye letters, with 5 letters chosen to create the first coding scheme. The categories were challenged by CH who wasn’t involved in the unit to limit subjectivity. After discussion, the final coding scheme was established. Some categories may seem broader than the extracts reported from the letters, as they result from a process of grouping smaller categories.

  • Some categories may seem broader than the extracts reported from the letters, as they result from a process of grouping smaller categories.
  • The problem is that cigarettes are a terrible way to consume nicotine, as there’s a quick reward and a quick drop in the effect.
  • Thus, the general inductive approach is a well-recognised qualitative method to establish categories making sense of the content of the letters 16.
  • Then, you decided to push me into that grave.

Mitrofan et al. observed the importance of continuity and constancy among health professionals in young people’s care trajectories 31. Among the admission letters, 4 of them clearly included the adolescents’ wish not to be treated. It can be noted that some of these adolescents had already been hospitalised in the past. School, family and a desire to belong to a group of peers could also be seen as motivational levers. Keeping up a sports activity was the only item in the adolescents’ desires outside their illness and school.

A Goodbye Letter To Addiction

I thought that it was fun for a while, until things got really bad between us. I couldn’t go a day without drinking, we had to have the alcohol to have fun. And it wasn’t just one drink anymore, we needed bottles every single day to find the motivation to get out of bed. If we weren’t drinking, we were wasting our time.

Being kind to yourself enables you to accept that with or without flaws, you are still wholesome and worthy of love and acceptance. Self-compassion helps build self-esteem, reminding you that you are better than what weighs you. As you write, you experience self-reflection, recognizing your strengths and what makes you an amazing human.

A Sample of a Goodbye Letter

You’ve been through a lot, but now it’s time to be free of the toxic relationship you have with your drug of choice and restore connections with your true friends and family members. Determination, which was present in more than half of the letters, was depicted as the corner-stone to recovery, the key to change. The adolescents who had been previously hospitalised stated the importance of determination in the process of adhering to treatment. The adolescents were aged from 12 to 19 years, 15,7 years on average (± 2,0). Among them, 48 were girls and 2 were boys.

A Letter to Addiction

Recovery empowers individuals to confront demons and goodbye addiction letter embrace a brighter life. It’s about moving forward, leaving addiction behind, and becoming a better, resilient individual. Illicit drug use affects half of the population aged 12 and above, with nearly one million drug overdose deaths recorded in the US since 2000. Polysubstance consumption, combining various drugs, can lead to dependency or addiction, risky behaviors, and mental health issues (National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, 2019). Discuss your hope for the future without the addiction.

Sure, there were times when I missed you when I felt weak or bored without you, but I was happy. This is my goodbye addiction letter, a declaration of my newfound strength and independence. You threatened me with illness, depression, and anxiety. I reached a point where I wouldn’t go anywhere without you.

  • CH and NG designed the study, supervised analysis and writing and approved final manuscript.
  • In the present case, the acceptation of care was related to the severity of their condition.
  • Now they know they need treatment to get off nicotine and also need to treat their ADHD with one of the more effective drugs available — drugs that also aren’t addictive.
  • To be clear, the pain you’ve inflicted is unbearable.
  • It consumes one’s, leaving behind a trail of destruction and despair.
  • There is a saying that the hardest thing to do in life is to say goodbye.

I had to admit my complete powerlessness over you in order to release your grip on my existence. But as I bear witness to you ripping through the lives of my friends, my family members, and my patients, I find it nearly impossible to surrender again. You would think I would have accepted this by now—that you want us dead—after battling with you my entire life. You would think I would stop being surprised as I hear about overdose after overdose… countless lives that you’ve taken hostage and pursued until the gates of death. Writing a Goodbye Letter to Your Addiction can be the necessary step you take towards a new, healthy life – you will find peace within your own soul. You can download a Goodbye Letter to Addiction template through the link below.

I thought that my traumatic childhood experiences would disappear thanks to you. I also thought that you could ease many of the struggles of my present. This includes issues I have in my personal and professional life. I believed that the more I poured into you, the less I would have to worry about my other problems. We had a great relationship and you did exactly that. There is a saying that the hardest thing to do in life is to say goodbye.

You constantly blocked me from doing any of the things I wanted to do. In that sense, you quickly became my worst nightmare. Because of you, I ended up doing things that I never in a million years thought I would be capable of doing. You turned me into what I hated more than anything else.

Benefits of Writing a Goodbye Letter to Addiction

Our aim was to study attitudes towards care among adolescents with AN treated in a specialised day hospital using an analysis of letters written before and after treatment. Are you thinking of writing your goodbye letter but do not know what to write or where to start? Elephant Journal highlights some of the personal narratives written by those going through recovery. In the letters, they express how addiction once felt like home to them. The letters highlight their recovery journey, and it has an impact on those still recovering from addiction.

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The truth is there is no right or wrong way of writing it; most times, the inadequacy is just your mind playing tricks on you. The journey to recovery is a long process. As you make progress, keep updating your letter or write new ones.

Crafting Your Goodbye Letter: What to Say to Your Addiction

This research took place in a unit specialized in the treatment of AN for young people aged 12 to 20 years, which opened in October 2019. The day hospital is an alternative to hospitalisation, either as a relay for outpatient care or after stabilisation of acute situations in inpatient care. It is the first unit in France to offer intensive multidisciplinary day care (five days a week) specialising in eating disorders while enabling a return to schooling inside the facility 12. In the admission letters, symptoms, calls for help, and reports on the adolescents’ care trajectories were central themes.

The reason for this letter is that their commitment to care is determined by their being involved, concerned and active in the recovery process 11, 12. A goodbye letter has been added to our day hospital programme as proposed by Giombini et al., bringing the adolescents to look back over their experience of care 13. In the admission letters, the perception of the stage of evolution of the illness was variable. Certain young people experienced the different symptoms very intensely, whereas others did not recognise the existence of the disorder, and some considered themselves to be cured. Indeed, out of the 50 letters, 18 did not mention an eating disorder or anorexia nervosa, even if some of them described their symptoms.

At Key Healthcare, we provide several tips to help you bid farewell to addiction. In this sample, many of the adolescents had previously required several hospitalizations. Day hospital care provides an opportunity to work alongside the families, in the adolescents’ own environments, focusing on their current concerns related to AN, comorbidities and age. In addition to promoting or supporting progress towards recovery, this system enables adolescents to reconnect with the reality of other young people in a secure environment. Through the letters, we could also observe that clinical progress enabled projections towards the future, with implications, projects, and especially desires beyond the illness. Indeed, discharge is an important milestone in the course of the illness, as recounted in the goodbye letters.

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