Dubai addict shares recovery journey after 12 years lost to drugs

Dubai: For more than a decade, Abdullah’s world revolved around a single companion — drugs.

In a bare room with no furniture, no food and few traces of life, he would stand motionless, staring at strangers through the window. Not with envy, but with numb detachment. The world moved on. He did not. Fear, sorrow and regret kept him trapped, the wreckage of a life consumed by addiction.

For 12 years, drugs took everything from him — his health, spirit and relationships. “It started as a joke,” he recalled. “I was pretending to be high in front of a friend. He gave me pills, and I didn’t hesitate.” That reckless moment began a spiral he could not stop, Emarat Al Youm reported.

Abdullah remembers the hallucinations, the paranoia, the dread of every knock on the door. “I saw faces that weren’t real. I heard voices. I became a shadow, rejected and alone, known only as a drug addict.”

His turning point came when he reached out to the Erada Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation in Dubai. “That was the moment my life began again,” he said.

Today, Abdullah is three years sober. His journey was shared on the “Mutaafi” podcast, produced by Dubai Police and hosted by Mahra Al Marzouqi, which highlights stories of recovery.

“I saw no end but death or prison,” Abdullah said. “So I chose recovery.”