Been there, done that provides compelling testimony. Darryl Strawberry, Patterson says, has to first help himself. Most don't go to treatment to stop using, we go to stop the pain in our lives. We want to stop the hurt. But abstinence is not recovery.
Addicts have to learn to live an honest life, one with spiritual principles.
We have to learn to do the opposite of everything we've done on the streets. The underlying reality of drug usage over a sustained period of time is a lack of fulfillment in everyday life. There's a lack of something. Addicts are not happy in their lives, so they try to fill that void with something. Even, sometimes, death.