Susan's Story

Susan was referred to WDP from a prescribing service that couldn't offer her the one-to-one counselling that she needed. She was 31 years old and the mother of three children. Susan was a very low point, using up to 5 grams of speed per day and was unable to cope with the pressures of life and raising her children.

She had been in an abusive relationship before she came to WDP. Her ex-husband had physically and mentally abused her over a period of ten years. It was as a result of this marriage that Susan became dependent on speed, and the escalation of her use led her to seek help.

Beginning her one-to-one sessions with one of our workers was a very emotional experience for Susan, and it took her two sessions to complete her initial assessment. Over the next few sessions, WDP worked with Susan around how she might begin to reduce her use of amphetamine, and soon she was using under a gram per day.

Susan was unemployed and low in confidence. Her case worker helped her find voluntary employment in her local park, and also helped her to find suitable education so that she could become more employable, and gain in confidence.

As Susan began to reduce her use of speed, she noticed the effects that her lifestyle had on her children. She made sure that she was up early each morning to help her children prepare for school, something that had rarely happened before, and began to take more of an interest in their schoolwork.

After five weeks of working with WDP, Susan became abstinent. And, by the time they had worked together for 7 weeks, Susan felt it was time for her to move on and stop coming to WDP.

When she left our service Susan was about to begin a course in IT at her local college and was still working part time in her local park. Her relationship with her children had vastly improved, and she was feeling confident about her future.

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