Goodbye Letter to Drugs: Why & How to Write One Sanctuary Foundation

Randal Lea, our Chief Community Recovery Officer is a licensed addictions counselor with 30 years of clinical and administrative experience. If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction help is available 24/7. My body and my brain both longed to return to your hold, but I had grown strong enough to pull away. After struggling through those first few weeks, I was determined to make a new life; one that did not include you, or any other substance, for that matter. Fortunately, those feelings are in the past; I know better now that I have achieved sobriety. The hardest thing about letting you go was putting myself first. But that decision is what ultimately showed me just how strong I am, and how much I am capable of. I started off every day trying to find you because I desperately felt that you could fix all of my problems.

You were with me to celebrate when I got my first job, and again when I got that big promotion. And who could forget how you stayed by my side when my kids were born and we toasted the night away. This is a difficult letter to write, and I should have written it years ago. I’m as much to blame as you, and I’ve finally decided that we can’t go on like this any longer. You didn’t force yourself on me…I was just as willing to begin our long friendship as you. Sober Home No matter what stage of recovery you are in, we can help you maintain what you have accomplished and continue moving forward. Contact us to learn how we can help you keep on the right path for a successful and fulfilling life. Be forthright about what drugs have done to you in the past. Jay is a grateful recovering alumnus, having been a patient at Cumberland Heights in 1989. His personal treatment experience helped shape his leadership principles today.

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Writing your letter is already a major sign of progress. If you are struggling to articulate your feelings about the emotional roller coaster that is early recovery, a letter may be able to help. A goodbye letter to a substance can goodbye letter to drugs and alcohol help you deal with traumatic events that have contributed to your addiction. It might also be easier to put something down in writing than it would be to express it verbally. Without you, I am accomplishing more than I ever have.

Hannah Rose, LCPC, is a therapist, writer, public speaker, and lover of all things caffeinated. You don’t stop even when we are lying broken on the floor, crying and begging for mercy. You don’t stop when we are shaking, physically withdrawing from your chemicals. You don’t stop when we try to take our own lives, because it seemed that suicide was the only solution to this never-ending insanity. If I returned to you, I know I’d be hooked again. But every day I will keep doing what I have to do to keep my obsession at bay — counseling, 12-step meetings, etc — so that I never have to see you again. And so that I can be there to help others who you might victimize. I spent time in prison because of you. You sent me to the hospital more than a few times.

My Final Letter to Addiction

I’m gonna really miss our steak dinners together. I’ll never forget our days on the lake…at the reservoir. I’m gonna really miss you when I fire up the grill. I mean let’s be serious, water on the rocks ain’t the same. Worst of all, you have a serious jealousy streak in you, bordering on psychotic. How could you come between my family and me? You couldn’t handle even a few special goodbye letter to drugs and alcohol days off so others could shine. You’re very selfish and only concerned with your own well-being. When I tried to work out and get healthier, you were always waiting for me after the gym, prodding me to just spend a little time with you. Then you seduced me into spending the night with you, and in the morning you’d laugh at me while my head and stomach ached from too much of you.