9781422270561

Carren said, “I would do anything with anyone to get drugs.” She was willing to steal and have sex with anyone. She’d black out and wake up in strange places the next day. One day, Carren decided to kill herself. Her drug-using friends decided to help her accomplish this goal by giving her a “huge amount” of methamphetamines and alcohol. She didn’t die, however. When she woke up from her overdose, Carren contacted the youth pastor at her church. He and her family helped to get her into a treatment program. Carren was able to enter recovery through the treatment program and eventually started working for a fitness center. She married a man she describes as “wonderful” and now has a healthy daughter whom she calls her “little miracle.” Carren volunteers for the Montana Meth Project, which helps kids to stay away from meth and avoid addiction. She warns people to stay away from meth because she still has lingering problems from her days of abuse. “I don’t deal with stress well,” she says, because meth damages parts of the brain. She still has strong cravings for meth that make her feel almost like she has started using the drug again. Carren and her father Ron wrote a book, Loss of Innocence: A Daughter’s Addiction. A Father’s Fight to Save Her , which tells the story of her addiction to methamphetamine and her recovery. An animated documentary, Saving Carren, also tells the story of addiction and recovery.

Addicted to Methamphetamine at Age 15

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