RecoveRy
INNER STRE
Emotional
intelligence can
be a potent tool
for recovery, says
Derek Fredericks
12 | drinkanddrugsnews | June 2019
O
ne hot summer’s day 13 years ago, I
remember sitting alone on the 192 bus
to Stockport. Clutching a satchel to my
chest, my thoughts swirling, I was
struggling to breathe. I caught one of
the thoughts: ‘They are not going to
like you.’ Then another: ‘You’re going to fail’, coming at
me like blows from a heavyweight boxer. I felt hopeless.
It had been a tough six months – no drugs, no
alcohol, no release and no escape. I thought about the
20 years of drugs, crime and prison, and now at 38
years old I was going to college to sit in class with
‘normal people’, to study Health and Social Care Level 1.
What did that even mean?
As the bus stopped, I spotted three men huddled
together, talking excitedly. I looked closer and realised I
knew them all and had used drugs with them. As a
BMW stopped, they all ran towards it. ‘THEY’RE
SCORING!’ Standing up with a start, I thought: ‘God!
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com