An Addict Within

An Addict Within
"You Can Break My Heart But You Can't Break My Life"
This is not another story about an addict. It is the “Other Side of the Story”; that of the family. The mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers of the addict and the damage caused, the chaos caused, and the broken relationships that happen within the family, because of the love and simultaneous hate for the addict.
This is the story of a well-educated professional, who has worked for both Fortune 100 companies and has been an entrepreneur for over 30 years. A man whose family led a very affluent, and prestigious life in their community. Then life changed for him. His oldest daughter, at the age of 13, exhibited the masochistic behavior known as “cutting” and self-mutilation”. From there it escalated to pills, marijuana, alcohol and cocaine through her high school years of addiction. Then, into her early 20’s, college and then into the dark world of heroin, exotic dancing, drug dealing, overdoses, 8 rehabs, multiple detoxes, felonies and multiple arrests.
During the pages of this book and through a father's eyes, Mark takes you on his almost 10 year journey of his feelings, motivations, the lengths a father will go through to save his daughter from herself and a life of pain and suffering, and the real life lessons learned in bringing his life and that of his families back in control. From “shame” to “sane”, from "insanity" to "sanity".
Mark realized that his daughter's addiction had consumed his life and Mark realized that he had An Addict Within him also. The addict within, was trying to “fix” his daughter at any and all cost. His personal life was as out of control as his daughter’s.
AN ADDICT WITHIN is a book about how to "fix" your life so that a family plagued with a loved one’s disease of addiction can learn to adjust and live a happy life.
The book depicts are very real, harsh and compelling tale which is a must read for anyone who has an addict in their family. It is a book of change and hope. Even if your addict does not get clean, you can still learn to live your life and be happy.