Mum-of-three Sarah Bird was addicted to meth after a painful relationship break-up. Now she reveals how she finally turned her life around
A mother of three who became addicted to methamphetamine after breaking up with her partner finally got sober after being attacked and evicted from her home.
Sarah Bird, a New Zealander living in Australia, first tried meth after her relationship with the father of her children ended and she began to numb the pain.
It started with alcohol abuse, but after a while Ms Bird turned to harder drugs before her life began to spiral out of control.
Her new partner Adam was also a functional addict at the time and the pair deteriorated together until she realized they had to quit on January 4, 2021.
Since then, the two have successfully overcome their addiction, gotten married and now Ms. Bird helps other addicts change their lives.
Sarah Bird, a New Zealander living in Australia, has revealed what it took to get sober after three years of being addicted to meth
The mother of three first used the hard drug after breaking up with her children’s father and turning to alcohol to numb the pain, which culminated in regular meth use
After having three children, Ms. Bird said her hormones were out of control, but she was able to suppress them until her relationship ended and things started to change.
“I had a full-time job as a hairdresser at first, and then suddenly I started to become unreliable and dishonest,” she says told news.com.au.
She had started using meth because it was more exciting alcohol, which makes them feeling like she was part of a secret club as she chased the high.
However, after losing her job and then her home, things continued to fall apart and she was forced to move in with her mother after losing her rent.
The stress of hiding the addiction from her children became too much when Mrs Bird came into contact with the police and was severely attacked by a stranger.
“I remember thinking to myself, the week before Christmas I was extremely suicidal at that point. I was like, “I don’t want to be here anymore. to the publication.
Mrs. Bird went to Adam and convinced him that they had to “do something” before one of them ended up dead or in jail.
The two went to their parents, who knew about the addiction, and asked for their help in kicking the habit.
They explained that after three years of meth use, they needed help moving into a new home and staying clean.
Ms. Bird began dating Adam, whom she has since married, and the two would use meth together until she realized they “had to do something” and decided to stop.
She was convinced that either she or Adam would end up dead or in prison if they continued, and feared that her children would eventually realize she was an addict as they got older.
Mrs. Bird also sat down with her children to admit that she had been struggling with addiction for years, a revelation that came as a complete surprise to them.
The children said they had noticed that she was going out at strange times without explanation and sleeping a lot, but Mrs Bird was concerned that if she didn’t come clean it would only be a matter of time before the children realized what was really going on used to be.
Mrs. Bird’s mother offered to take the kids when she and Adam finally took the plunge to go cold turkey and spent the first four days of sobriety sleeping.
To stay on track, Ms. Bird also contacted an addiction recovery service called Lives Lived Well, which set up virtual meetings for her with Narcotics Anonymous.
Mental health had always been an issue for Ms Bird since she was first diagnosed ADHD at age 11 and then manic-depressive disorder at 15.
She joined during her recovery process an F45 training club and found that the community gave her the motivation to keep going.
Ms Bird and Adam married in September 2022 and celebrated three years of sobriety together this month.
She now has a full-time job again and runs a motivational Instagram page in her spare time she provides support or intervention to anyone struggling with their own substance abuse issues.
Her children have also become advocates of sobriety, intervening at parties when they see other people offering or trading drugs.
‘Everyone believes that addicts choose an addiction, but it is an addiction. “I think too many people are too quick to judge addicts and don’t understand that if we get the right support, and find it within ourselves, we can really be good people,” she said.