360 Is Brutally Honest About Drug Use
Matt Colwell You Are Doing Exactly What Our Kids Need
Over the past two years, I have seen Matt Colwell (AKA 360 Aussie Hip Hop/ Rapper) open up about his drug use in the most brutally honest way.
Anyone that has past and present vices knows how hard this is. They may not even be your demons, it may be that you were raised in an environment destroyed by drugs and alcohol
It doesn’t make it any easier to speak up. But when you speak up weights begin to lift. When your open and all your cards are on the table your shame isn’t as hard to swallow. When you visit support groups you aren’t overwhelmed with the fear that someone you know will see you and snitch to your family.
I have a son who I write about reasonably often. A child who has battled the odds already at age 10. What I have not mentioned is that his father died after a history of Oxycontin abuse.
All it took was a back injury, a prescription from the GP and a very serious & stressful situation in our once successful business.
Within 12 months we had lost everything we worked for. Within 2 years of addiction, I had to take our son and leave. Within 5 years he was dead. We lived in an isolated town with poor support services, none which offered me advice on how to help him.
I take the responsibility to educate my son about drug use and mental health seriously.
School education, sports achievements and all of these things we place our kids on a pedestal for are important – but not as important to me as my child’s mental health and his well-being on a social level. This is where we are at in 2016.
There are indicators which play a part. We all have them. You might have an alcoholic father or a mother who has severe anxiety. You might have a parent or grandparent who is a severe workaholic.
These don’t define your future – but it is worth to take note of your history – identify possible behaviours within ourselves which we have picked up from others. We can work on our weaknesses and build on our strengths.
When you open up about addiction you talk about mental health in the same breath. I know for me personally when I spent time on medication for severe depression I used to feel embarrassed when I handed my script in at the chemist.
I used to cringe when they would verbally name the medication and confirm that I have used it before. The whole chemist suddenly knows I’m sick. Thanks, lady.
I can’t tell you what happened for me to change because it was not a singular event. Probably my separation most of all. Spending two years alone with nobody influencing my worth or standing in front of my goals.
It’s common for a person who is already traumatised to attract someone that will hurt them emotionally, it’s a cycle I’m desperate to break.
Addiction, Mental Health, Domestic Violence sometimes appear like bad fruit on the same tree. The tree itself is incredible, branches spread wide with beautiful leaves.
Instead of shaking the bad fruit to the ground, it hangs onto it. Not really making any space for a new piece of fresh fruit eh?
After a while, you lose sight of who you once were, the leaves start to die. It’s pretty horrific what happens in your mind and to your body when you lose yourself like that. Whether it’s a mental addiction, physical addiction or both. It becomes more difficult to reach out – but you have to do it.
I’ve dried out from physical alcohol addiction twice. I’ve been through absolute hell coming off highly addictive anti-depressants. It took me three goes to break through the withdrawal process despite being mentally ready to tackle life without them.
I cannot imagine what it’s like to have a daily battle with an ICE addiction, but reading 360’s words over the past two years, I know he is exactly what our kids, especially older teens, need to hear. I just hope when my children become young adults there will be more people like him coming out and speaking up.
Our kids need to know the absolute brutal, horrific truth about what you stand to go through. The suffering you will endure, the friends you will lose, the “friends” you will gain. The “things” people do while using and the end game that you face – death.
We can’t rely on the government to tackle this on their own, they don’t live down here with the rest of us.