Former addict to BHS students: Ask yourself 'Why use?'

Chris Herren: 'There is way too much focus on the worst day of addiction, not the first day it started'

By Joan D. Warren
Posted 10/18/18

Why? Why would someone start drinking?

What is so wrong with someone's life that he or she would start "chasing death"?

Chris Herren asked those questions to all the Barrington High School …

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Former addict to BHS students: Ask yourself 'Why use?'

Chris Herren: 'There is way too much focus on the worst day of addiction, not the first day it started'

Posted

Why? Why would someone start drinking?

What is so wrong with someone's life that he or she would start "chasing death"?

Chris Herren asked those questions to all the Barrington High School juniors and seniors during a recent assembly inside the school auditorium. He was not waiting for an answer. He was just hoping to reach one teenager.

“A goal for me is that one kid walks out of here this morning and says to themselves, ‘I don’t like the kid I’ve become and I’m embarrassed by my choices. I’ve got to change,'" said Mr. Herren. 

Chris Herren speaks from experience. He started drinking when he was 14 years old — back then he was a basketball star at Durfee High School in Fall River, Mass. and headed for big-time college basketball programs and eventually the NBA. 

But addiction killed all that. 

Drugs and alcohol cut short his basketball career and nearly cost him his family and his life.

Mr. Herren shared details of that story with Barrington High School students three years ago, but offered a different approach during the recent visit. This time he spoke about why he started drinking — he talked about what was missing inside him or broken, and why he believed he needed to numb his pain.

Mr. Herren asked the Barrington teenagers to look at their behavior and ask themselves — simply — why?

“With all you know about drugs and alcohol, why would you let it begin?” he asked.

He told them he started drinking at 14 because of the pressures of basketball and family issues. He said his dad was a functioning alcoholic who drank Miller Lites. He said his parents' eventual divorce was very hard on him.

Then a student asked Mr. Herren what made him stop using.

“I was 32 years old. This guy said to either kill myself or fake my death. He said my kids will never live if I’m around them — they will suffer," said Mr. Herren. "It was hard. Giving up alcohol was harder than anything because it's all around. Heroin you do in secret. 

"It’s hard to stay sober. I pray a lot, go to meetings and work at it."

Those who can live happy, productive lives without drugs and alcohol are superstars in his mind.

“They are savages — the ones who aren’t afraid to dance, laugh and have fun without it. True savages,” he said.

In the 10 years since he stopped using drugs and alcohol, Mr. Herren has been the subject of books, documentaries and founded rehabilitation facilities. He also spends a lot of his time speaking to people about addiction.

“Barrington High School is where I started talking to health classes about my recovery," said Mr. Herren. "I don’t do many appearances around here anymore and I have talked to CEOs, professional athletes, at college campuses — you name it. 

"I have a responsibility to tell my story and I ask God to reach just one person. There is way too much focus on the worst day of addiction, not the first day it started."

Mr. Herren said he can remember having attended similar assemblies when he was in high school years ago. He said he wished he had left one of those assemblies and walked into his coach's office and confessed to the drinking. He wished he had asked for help. 

He added: "This isn’t just about drugs and alcohol, this talk is about self-esteem and self-worth."

Mr. Herren, now a Portsmouth resident, said it is like a power play when someone asks for help. Kids should not feel ashamed to ask for help and they should not be afraid to help a friend in need.

He asked the hundreds of Barrington High School students sitting in front of him to look inside themselves and ask 'What is so wrong that they need to turn to drugs and alcohol?'

“Why are you chasing death for a feeling?" he said. "What’s so wrong in your life? We all know exactly why."

At his treatment centers, participants go through a process of self-discovery, to help them uncover why they turn to unhealthy behaviors or substances, and give them the tools they need to live healthy, authentic, and substance-free lives.
The first step, he said, is looking within and asking for help.

To learn more about Chris Herren’s story or for information on his rehabilitation facilities, go to www.herrenwellnessgroup.com

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