FAM
	Families Against Meth Is A Non-Profit Organization Formed In Saskatoon In December 2004 By A Group Of Concerned Families Dealing With Substance Abuse Of A Loved One.
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Mission Statement	A Mother's Thoughts
Our Vision
Support Meetings	I wonder why today, October 6/08, I feel compelled to sit down and write my private thoughts
What is Crystal Meth?	on our child's addiction. I do believe it is that we have not heard from him again for many
Help Numbers	weeks. I also believe that I have had these thoughts in my head and finally feel the need to put
More Links	them down. It is not easy being the family of a child who suffers with addiction. For the most
Annual General Meeting	part we suffer in silence. Too embarrassed to admit our perceived failures to set good
Informational Forums	examples, boundaries, lack of love, lack of on hands parenting, lack of presence at home. All
Upcoming Events	of these things perceived by the general public that cause addiction. I thought this too. But
Stories from the Heart	to set the record straight we may not have been perfect parents but all of the things above
Contact Us	were present in our home. Our child was nurtured, cared for, loved, read to, had a warm and
	inviting home, open dialogue with parents and grandparents. Was involved in organized sports.
	He was well liked, funny, kind (most of the time). He traveled with our family. We ate at the table. He didn't really like school and spent more time getting out of doing his assignments than completing them. We cared. We went to the school and spoke to the teachers. We tried.
	Does the lack of love, attention, boundaries, etc., cause a person to become addicted? Perhaps, but what about our child then? Like so many other parents and loved ones I have become acquainted with, these things people think protect your loved one from addiction doesn't necessarily prevent addiction.
	How does one come to grips with the fact that the child who has now become a young adult starting out in the world to become someone we can be proud of, has chosen an invisible path to heartache.
	I am sure that the first time the drugs were used there was not thought to the fact that would become dependant on this first exciting experience.
	I think about why young people try drugs. I know that youth are the risk takers. They think they are invincible. Indestructible and they too think they won't become dependant.
	In one discussion with our child I asked this question. Why did you ever try these things? The answer was simply, I did not think that I would become addicted.
	I write these words after almost six years of facing the pain and shame of having raised a child who unknowingly or stupidly or naively entered that invisible path to heartache for himself, for those who love him and for society.
	Today I read in the paper that this is Mental Illness Awareness Week. I guess you will wonder why this is relevent to my putting these thoughts on paper.
	The reason for this is that when a dependency on a substance whether it be crystal meth, crack, heroin, or whatever is available enters ones life, a change to that person occurs. It is the most frightening and life changing experience to witness. The person you once knew no longer exists under the influence of the substance.
	Our first real and true experience with this occurred in a crisis situation with our adult child who after a very real and terrifying phone call from him led to a day of trying to get him help. He was finally admitted non voluntarily to the hospital after me finally falling on my knees and begging that someone do something.
	He was admitted to the HICU which is in fact the locked ward of the Hantelman Unit. Thus began our journey.
	In the past six years we have had times when our child was back with our family. At first we were naive, hopeful and in denial. We thought the treatment we had sought for him out of Saskatchewan would be the cure. Not so. Repeated trips to addiction services, a stay at Hopeview for three months, and a treatment center in Quebec for six months. All resulted in short glimpses of our child back.
	This final relapse has taken its toll on our family. I am no longer the optimistic and hopeful parent who believes that our child will live a happy and productive life. I stay awake knowing that the situations that he deals within everyday life would be unbearable for someone who was not dependant on drugs. I also try and remember the words of hope and encouragement that a counselor told me that addicts are like cats, they have nine lives, and I wonder how many our child has left.
	That counselor I believe saved my life. I have tried to put my energy into helping other people deal with addiction of a loved one. Sometimes, I don't have the energy myself. The other children suffer as our lives become all about trying to help the addict. I have now tried to be more attune to how they are also dealing with the absence of their brother, sister, mother, or father.
	But I digress, today in the paper when they are discussing the Mental Awareness Week, I feel that maybe progress is being made. The Saskatoon Health Region now lists Substance Addiction Disorder as the fourth leading cause of disability worldwide.
	Finally addiction is being addressed as a mental health issue. Maybe now there will be medical research and help to address the plight of those affected by Substance Addiction Disorder.
	Maybe now the shame ans stigma of Mental Health issues of which Substance Addiction Disorder is one will be dispelled by the truth that there is help for mental illness and our loved ones will not be shut out from the help of Dr's and researchers who are beginning to understand the far reaching costs to society.
	S.A.D., Substance Addiction Disorder now has a name. It also has a face in the many loved ones who deal with this on an everyday basis. I now can say our child has S.A.D. it sounds so clinical doesn't it?
	It sounds like something that maybe they can find a cure for S.A.D., a disease, not just, SAD, something everyone deals with silently, everyday, every  hour, every minute our loved one suffers from this disease.