“We don't have to do this alone. We do this together.”
“I tried lots of things,” Mike says, about his recovery journey. “For 20 some years, I tried to quit. I tried moving. I tried abstaining certain days. I tried limiting. I tried budgeting. I tried changing substances… I tried every little thing you could possibly try, and nothing seemed to work for me. I had to go to treatment to get some clarity.” That clarity helped him find supports that worked—and helped him understand he didn’t need to do it alone.
“The key is for me was I always thought it was up to me to get clean. If I really wanted to get sober or clean, it was up to me. I thought ‘No one can do this for me.’ And that's the biggest lie out there. We don't have to do this alone. We do this together.”
“There's no one way to recover,” Mike stresses. “There's so many ways to recover out there. There's other people that have done it, and so we don't need to reinvent the wheel. My biggest problem in the 21 years that I tried to battle it alone was that I tried to battle it alone. I thought I was smart enough to outsmart it and that I could figure this out. I should be able to figure this out, and if I can figure it out, then I don't have to have that shame of telling everyone that I'm an addict instead of saying, Hey, you know what? I need help.”
“The biggest thing that I could suggest to anyone is just reach out and ask for help. And when you reach out and ask for help, actually take the help. Be honest, be open-minded and being willing—those were probably the three biggest keys that led me to get some time together. You don't have to do this alone.”
"I feel I live a very good life today, and I feel my mom's super proud of who I am today, and I feel every other Indo-Canadian could have the same."
- The Roshni Clinic provides substance use support for South Asian adults in Fraser Health region, including intake, assessment and treatment.
- The South Asian Health Institute aims to help South Asian people in the Fraser Health region seeking mental health, substance use and harm reduction services and support. Toxic drug crisis resources are also available for free on their website.
- The South Asian Community Hub provides counselling and addiction treatment.