Like many addicts, Dawn Nickel rarely shares her story. At 16, she was a high school dropout and well on her way to severe substance abuse.
For five years, she embraced heavy use of cocaine, alcohol and prescription drugs. But she eventually got clean.
Few people talk about addicts who are clean, say advocates from Recovery Victoria, who sought to have Sept. 30 declared Recovery Day in Victoria.
Nickel, now 52, she has earned three university degrees, is in a long and happy marriage and has raised two healthy daughters.
"That's why I'm coming out of the closet, so to speak," Nickel said.
"People don't know that drugaddicted, crazy young women, like I was - with no self-worth and no self-esteem - can find a new way to live."
Co-workers, acquaintances or new friends often don't hear about recovering addicts' struggles with substance abuse because of the stigma attached to it.
But Nickel, and others like her, are now proudly sharing how they battled and survived substance abuse.
They hope their stories will encourage others to get help and change perceptions about addiction and about the people who struggle with it, say members of Recovery Victoria, the group that lobbied the city for the Recovery Day designation.
They will host an event celebrating recovery Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. at Centennial Square.
Resource groups will be available for anyone looking to get information about addiction.
There is a lack of awareness about solutions, said counsellor Susan Donaldson, a member of Recovery Victoria.
"It's about raising awareness about the solution," she said. "We see the problem, in the media, in front of us. The consequences are everywhere in the health-care system, in our legal system, but we don't see the solution."
Recovering addicts often keep silent because of the traditions of anonymity in many recovery programs. But addicts are often shamed by society.
"People are still scared to be stigmatized, even if they have multiple years of recovery and sobriety," Donaldson said. "They get into recovery, get on with their lives, their lives get better and then they disappear into the mainstream."
Dylan Dewis is 37 and works for the Vancouver Island Health Authority in its withdrawal management services section, helping addicts get clean.
Not that long ago, Dewis used a similar program to kick his alcohol addiction. There was a time when he could barely keep a job as a labourer because of his drinking, he said. His binges would last for days and he would often miss his shifts at work altogether.
At 19, he knew he had a problem, and spent the next 13 years trying to get sober.
He finally got clean for about three months when he was 31. He realized, though, he would need help if he was to continue. Fortunately, his family paid for him to go to a private program where he stayed for 45 days.
Dewis recognizes most people cannot afford private programs, but he wants to help raise awareness of available programs.
"Working in a government facility, I see hundreds of people who don't have access to what I had. I'm eternally grateful that I had a family that was still there when I was ready," he said. "But there are programs out there that people can use."
> Comment: Recovery Day a reason to celebrate, A13
