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Recovery in the News
Oklahoma teen sharing how recovery from alcohol and drug addiction is possible
Teen Recovery Day event set for Sept. 28 in Tulsa
Brian Painter
The Oklahoman
September 11, 2010
Teens are going to surround Tyler Norsworthy, 17, and they are going to want to know how he has eluded the drug known as ecstasy for about a year.
At least, that's what he is expecting.
He's going to tell them that, in part, it's because he now clearly sees what he lost during the two to three years he was under the influence of drugs.
Norsworthy, a student at the Oklahoma Outreach Sober School in Oklahoma City, is scheduled to be among the teens sharing their experiences during Teen Recovery Day, Sept. 28 at Tulsa Community College. The Association of Recovery Schools is partnering with Sober School, Tulsa Community College and Parents Helping Parents to offer an educational event where recovering teens can share with middle school and high school students that recovery from drug and alcohol addiction is possible.
"I feel a hundred times better," Tyler said. "I have a real good relationship with my parents, my own money, I can train for mixed martial arts, and I can come here to school.
"You can't see everything you don't have when you're using because all you see are the drugs."
When he was in treatment, a young man who had been down a similar path came to speak.
"He wasn't trying to force recovery on us, he just told us how much better it is," Tyler said, "and that's what I want to tell others."
Oklahoma Outreach Sober School and Tulsa Community College are Oklahoma's only members in the Association of Recovery Schools, said Tina Barker, the program director at Sober School.
Many Tulsa and Oklahoma City metro-area school students have been invited to participate in this free event at Tulsa. Those attending will hear individual stories with individual circumstances.
Tyler wasn't willing to stop. But then came one of those days when he stayed home from school. On those days, he'd usually do drugs. His parents suspected something and he was tested.
He said he "showed up dirty on the drug test for several things." They insisted he seek treatment. He didn't go willingly.
His greatest struggle with the idea that he could recover came a little before he started treatment and then the first month or two during treatment. Tyler no longer had the drug he felt he needed to feel normal. So there was a hole. It seemed to him that the only true solution was to work through his problems. He is working through those.
But has he relapsed? No.
"One reason I'm scared to relapse is because I don't know whether or not I could get back into recovery, if I could redo everything that I've already done," he said. "And the second reason is I guess I've matured to the point where I realized my parents just spent time, effort, love and money on me. I can't just waste it."
The Oklahoma Outreach Sober School, a private school, helps teens recover from drug and alcohol addictions while allowing them to finish high school. Instead of going back to their previous school setting, they learn through web-based classes at the school, which opened in 2006. They also share through small groups, such as those planned for Teen Recovery Day.
"There are other kids like Tyler that are going through the exact same things and they are finding hope in the future, because they realize there are solutions for teenage addicts," Barker said.