Mike B. is a successful graduate of Turnbridge’s extended care program.  After suffering a relapse from his first treatment attempt, Mike has worked hard to maintain his sobriety and he is well on his way to living a happy and stable life. According to Mike, he began experimenting with drugs at the age of 17, during the summer before his senior year of high school.  He continued to experiment and use recreationally throughout the rest of high school and into his time away at Florida State University.  After a car accident, Mike was prescribed pain medication, and his drug abuse skyrocketed.  He used any excuse he could find to take more and over time things worsened severely. Shortly after the car accident and his subsequent drug abuse, Mike entered his first primary drug treatment program.  “I went voluntarily,” Mike said.  “I only really did it to get [my parents] off my back.  I didn’t have the desire to get clean at that point.” Mike stayed at the sober living program for four months before suffering a relapse.  This led to a brief period of time when Mike lived on the couches of various friends, all while his battle with addiction raged in the background.  “Things got bad,” Mike said.  “I ended up getting arrested, and I asked for help.  I felt like I had hit bottom and I wanted help.  I got to the point where I said to myself, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore.’” Mike’s mom bailed him out of jail, and he was soon entered into Mountainside’s treatment program.  He completed the program and soon after became at resident at Turnbridge.  “I dedicated myself to becoming clean before I even got to Mountainside,” Mike said.  “However, I was miserable and not on a good path until I was seven months clean.  It took seven months of me grinding my way through.” “The way I see it, I learned a lot about recovery at Mountainside, and about getting clean.  At Turnbridge, I learned more but the bigger thing is that I learned how to live a structured life that kept me out of trouble.  There was a big emphasis on sobriety and on recovery, and what I took from it was to do the right things.  It was a great environment for me.  I think it was good overall, productive, and helpful.” “I definitely don’t feel like the same person,” Mike said.  “Responsibility is a big part of it.  Even though I don’t always like going to work, I like the fact that I’m responsible for myself.  I’m making a big effort to provide for myself.  One thing that was very paramount to me, in my life and recovery, is when I really started to develop relationships with people outside of recovery…when I was actually able to start effectively interacting with people that didn’t have to do with my recovery.  It was a big point in my life.  I felt like I was actually part of the world again.” Since graduating from Turnbridge’s program, Mike has worked hard to maintain a stable and productive life.  He met a wonderful woman named Amanda, and the two are now engaged.  Mike is currently majoring in math and computer science, and may pursue a career in computer programming.  “My life’s amazing now, and it wasn’t before.”