Dallas Bragg describes quitting meth as untangling his identity, relationships, and coping mechanisms rather than just stopping a drug. He ended friendships, distanced from family, and learned new ways to handle emotions, facing profound isolation in early recovery as he moved toward a better version of himself.
People on the outside might say, well, letting go of meth should be easy. No, it's because you aren't letting go of just meth. When you try to let it go, you realize it has its tentacles wrapped around so many other facets of your life, it pulls everything with it. Letting go of meth means letting go of everything you have come to believe you are. This person with stories and narratives. Listen, recovery is the intricate untangling of meth from this persona that outside life has created, this you that you think you are. And this requires challenge. It's a challenge you've been called to endure to bring out the best and highest version of yourself. The untangling for me looked like leaving certain friendships, leaving certain familiar family relationships, groups, and rewiring how I cope with life, how I cope with the unwanted emotions that I had been running from all those years. People were hurt. People were angry. I was isolated. I felt more alone than ever.
