Friday, February 9, 2024

RFK Jr. on Addiction and Recovery

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had seen a lot of intense trauma as a child. When he was just 14, his father, Bobby Kennedy Sr., was assassinated during his presidential campaign. His uncle was assassinated. His older brother died in a plane crash. He has another sister who died in a plane crash. His mother beat him with a hairbrush. It's almost no wonder that when some kids offered him heroin at the age of 14, he took it.

RFK Jr. says he had iron willpower in other areas of his life, so he didn't envision himself ever becoming an addict. He'd given up candy for lent until he was in college. But he didn't realize, taking heroin is like letting someone else in the driver's seat. When he became a full-blown addict, he found it desperately frustrating that he was unable to keep his own contracts with himself.

It was particularly hard for someone like RFK Jr. to give up drugs because he realized they helped him to become a better student. He said in an interview that before he took drugs, he'd sit there in the classroom and stare out the window, preferring to pay attention to the wilderness, rather than what the teacher might be talking about. But drugs actually helped him pay attention in class. Being a Kennedy, he must have been under extreme pressure to do well in school, so who can actually blame him for self-medicating in the way that he did?

How I Overcame Addiction - RFK Jr. Interview

While most people would have seen "shooting up" as a drastic measure, he said intravenous drugs made sense to him because he grew up with large animals that received IV injections. He just thought of it as an efficient way to receive a substance.

When he began crashing from the heroin high, he told a group of kids with drugs that he felt terrible, so they offered him Crystal Meth. It made him feel better, but it wasn't long before he developed a full-blown drug problem.

Being from the Kennedy family with a lot of pressure to uphold a certain reputation, he felt like he couldn't seek treatment in the way that other people might be able to. The news would spread all over, so he felt like he had to lie.

He said it was a blessing when he was finally arrested for taking drugs on an airplane. Because of this, he was basically forced to get the treatment he desperately needed.

He went to Alcoholics Anonymous as part of a drug treatment program, and was finally able to get sober. To this day, he continues to go to about a dozen meetings per week. He appears to do this not just so he can keep himself on the straight and narrow, but also because he enjoys helping other people. He tells a story of how the founder of AA realized that the best way to keep from drinking yourself, is to find another person who needs to quit drinking and help them.

Kennedy says he had a spiritual awakening, and when he felt as if God was watching him 24/7, it was easier for him to remain sober. He talks about how he overcame his addictions, in more detail, in the videos below. For anyone who struggles with addiction (and even if you haven't)... I thought this was pretty inspiring, and you might want to see it, too.

Robert F Kennedy Jr Being Honest as the Daylight - Most Inspiring Video of RFK You'll Ever See - What He Learned Through Addiction.