Chasing the High: A Firsthand Account of One Young Person's Experience with Substance Abuse (Adolescent Mental Health Initiative)

A Recovering Heroin Addict Tells Of How His Early Days Of Alcohol And Drug Use Nearly Destroyed His Life And Recounts His Decline Into A Life Of Crime And Homelessness And His Successful Recovery. The History Behind Chasing The High -- What To Expect From This Book -- Crash And Rescue -- Above The City, Steeped In Misery -- Back From The Edge -- Substance Abuse And Addiction Defined -- Addiction Is A Disease -- A Hellish Journey -- The Early Days Of Using -- My Not-so-shady Past -- A Forbidden Sip -- One Puff Leads To Another -- My Uncertain Future -- Heroin -- A Rite Of Passage Versus The Slippery Slope To Addiction -- The Ride Down That Slope -- Who Becomes Addicted, Who Does Not, And Why? -- The Noose Tightens -- A Moment Of Truth, And Then Denial -- First Shot At Detoxification -- Learning The Life Of An Addict -- Desperate Moves -- Returning To An Unfamiliar Home -- This Is Your Brain On Drugs -- Different Types Of Drugs Of Abuse -- Trying To Get Help -- Overconfidence And Denial : Do Not Mix -- A Minor Arrest -- A Major Arrest -- Up, Down, Up, Down : The Saga Of Addiction Continues -- A Crucial Turning Point -- Substance Abuse Treatment : What To Expect -- Treatment Of Co-occurring Mental Disorders -- Recovery -- What Does Recovery Mean For You? -- If A Relapse Occurs-- -- Looking Back, Looking Ahead -- Real Recovery Is Whatever Works For Us. Kyle Keegan ; With Howard B. Moss. The Annenberg Public Policy Center Of The University Of Pennsylvania. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 159-160) And Index.