DRUG use and addiction is often described as a scourge of modern society, taking potentially productive and happy young people and turning them into monsters of their own addiction.
For those who succumb to addiction and are stuck in its destructive cycle it may seem that there is no way out, yet Jarrod Pearman is living proof that even the darkest lives can be turned around and made positive.
It is hard to imagine that the happy, motivated and positive man that is Jarrod today once had a $400 a day heroin addiction that cost him his job, his friends and very nearly his life.
At that stage in his life, every dollar that Jarrod made went back into his addiction, but of course, as Jarrod explains, it never starts out like that.
“When I was younger I used to use a lot of amphetamines – I was addicted to them.
“I stopped using them because they were going to kill me but I couldn’t sleep.
“One day I met this heroin user and asked him all about it – it was all because I wanted to sleep and I wanted relief from the anxiety attacks.”
From that point heroin took over Jarrod’s life and he went from having a promising career to having almost nothing at all.
“I lost my job, my friends – drugs consumed every moment of my life.
“The main thing that people need to understand is that when you’re on drugs you don’t care about anything.
“You’re so sick if you don’t take drugs that you’re completely bound by your addiction.
“All you’re doing is surviving.
“From day to day you don’t know if you’re going to die – you’re desperate and the people around you are desperate.”
Jarrod said that from a distance he has seen the same scenes of desperation played out in Esperance, scenes that the rest of the community are oblivious to.
“Most people aren’t involved with it so they just don’t see it – they don’t understand what it is like.”
Jarrod tried many times to get off heroin, including stints in rehab and the methadone program – all to no avail until he came to Esperance and started a program with Teen Challenge.
It was here that Jarrod began to turn his life around and deal with some of the root issues that caused him to turn to drugs.
“At Teen Challenge you are totally removed from everything and all you have to think about is getting better.
“Drugs are just a symptom of deeper problems and the emotional issues underneath.
“I know now that I was just trying to run from myself – I didn’t want to deal with the bad stuff that had happened in my life.”
Now Jarrod describes his life as blessed and wants to help spare young people the suffering and pain that an addiction instigates.
“In my heart I really want be a good influence on kids and spare them the pain that I have suffered.
“Kids are going to make mistakes, but if I can help them to lessen those mistakes and make good choices, then I’ll do what I can.”
He has now rebuilt his relationship with his family and is committed to being the best person he can – which includes not using drugs or drinking.
“If you want to be a good role model and have people to listen to you then you have to back up your words with actions.
“That life that I had then now seems like a bad dream, like they were someone else’s experiences.”
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