Ex-patient says Norman center saved his life

NORMAN — A Norman man says he had seven drunken driving charges and tried suicide three times before finding help at Norman Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center.

"I’d either be dead or in prison or out on the streets doing I don’t know what if they hadn’t helped me,” he said.

Steve, 53, now works as a health care provider and is in his second year of recovery from substance abuse and a debilitating mental illness.

"They not only saved my life, they turned me into a contributing member of society. I can finally give back something to the system that helped me,” he said.

Steve said he began abusing drugs and alcohol when he was 12, unaware he was also suffering from clinical depression.

As an adult, he said, "I used chemical substances on a daily basis to suppress my feelings of loneliness, low self-esteem and depression. I was never professionally diagnosed with depression, so the thought never occurred to me that maybe I had a mental illness.”

Steve landed in Griffin Memorial Hospital after a suicide attempt. He spent 10 weeks in inpatient treatment at Norman Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center before being released for after-care, which included help from the Cleveland County Community Mental Health Center and Transition House.

Steve said, "I’ve learned there are many, many people like me, who find themselves destitute, having lost everything and in need of help but with nowhere to turn.”