Addict to Advocate: Mother of Boy Born Drug-Dependent Strives to Help Others

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A Nashville woman struggled for years with pain pills and other drugs, even experiencing homelessness because of her addiction.

What some would consider a crisis situation—pregnancy—was the one thing that convinced her to get clean.

Bethany Morse’s 4-year-old son depends on her for everything, and that is what she says saved her life.

“I promised him in that hospital. ‘You’ll never go through anything like this ever, ever again,’” she recalled for News 2

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Her boy was born addicted.

“He would shake a little big when he would cry,” Morse said.

She was on Suboxone, which was prescribed to help her off an opioid addiction that she’d had for more than a decade.

“It’s just like being on heroin, pretty much. A lot of people don’t want to say that, but it is. You’re living in a dream state all the time,” Morse explained.

But the reality was frequent overdosing, emergency rooms, and rehab that didn’t rehabilitate.

“It’s like being possessed by a demon. I knew I was putting my parents and everyone who loved me through a lot of pain,” she told News 2.

Motherhood changed that. She was finally ready.

“That’s what I want people to hear. It’s not what you think; it’s not that hard once you’re really willing to get clean,” Morse explained.

She continued, “It’s like its removed from you; the obsession is gone. You don’t hardly think about it, and when you do it’s in terms of helping somebody else out.”

Morse is an addict turned advocate and works with Tennessee Overdose Prevention to get the word out about Naloxone, the highly-effective opioid antidote.

She also has thousands of followers on a Facebook page dedicated to helping addicts and their families.

http://wkrn.com/2017/02/02/addict-to-advocate-mother-of-boy-born-drug-dependent-strives-to-help-others/