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Amanda King got hooked on narcotics after surgery for acid reflux in 2006.
When her doctor went to rehab, King — who earned a nursing degree while battling her addiction — began taking medications that were prescribed to patients.
“I’m not proud of that — at all. But that’s what addiction will make you do,” King, who is now in recovery, said.
Experts say addiction rewires the brain to create more dependence on a substance, and a newly-formed non-profit group wants to raise awareness of the science behind the disease.
King shared her story at New Hope Christian Church Saturday evening during a program sponsored by New Life Connections.
The faith-based nonprofit provides services to recovering addicts while calling for a frank community discussion about addiction.
“What happens is then people who struggle with addiction feel like they can come and ask for help when that conversation is a good healthy conversation,” director Rachel Mandeville said.
The organization recently provided its first scholarship to a man seeking treatment at Trinity Life Ministry.
Addiction’s impact on the brain explains changes in behavior among drug or alcohol users, said Carl Waterman, a professional life and recovery coach and CEO of a rehab facility in Anderson.
Research shows that repeated drug or alcohol abuse destroys the brain’s connection to the pre-frontal cortex, which helps rationalize impulses.
“If the connector that makes this happen is no longer there, you don’t have willpower,” Waterman said, “and you can beat these people, you can lock them up, you can threaten them. You can do everything, but it’s not going to change.”
The connection is not restored for two years after the person stops using the substance, Waterman said.
Scientists have not fully determined why some people become addicted to drugs or how the changes in the brain lead to uncontrollable drug use, National Institute on Drug Abuse director Dr. Nora Volkow wrote in a July report.
For King, the deaths of four loved ones in a car crash just before Christmas in 2008 led to her addiction spiraling out of control.
“I didn’t have to cope with my feelings, my depression and my sadness because I had a way out,” King said.
She entered rehab following her arrest for stealing the medications and was able to keep her nursing license through a program that requires her to attend regular meetings.
King now works at an addiction treatment facility.
“My higher power is God and I am thankful that He didn’t give up on me,” she said.
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