From Alcohol Addiction to Admissions Liaison: Josh Logan’s Story

Some of the biggest allies for clients at the New England Recovery Center (NERC) are employees who are in recovery themselves. They truly understand the plight of our clients and their stories resonate with those still in the early stages of treatment. Josh Logan, our admissions liaison, is one of them. Recently, he shared his story of alcohol addiction and recovery with the Chaz & AJ Show on 99.1 radio.

Josh’s parents met at Alcoholics Anonymous in the 70s, and studies show that addiction is in fact, genetic. Both he and his brother were affected and just as his brother began his recovery, Josh started his journey with alcohol. He had his first beer at 13 years old and his first “blackout” at 15.

“I started out as the stereotypical jock, going to parties and drinking,” he said. Josh attended the University of Tampa, but unbeknownst to him and his parents, that school has been ranked as a top party school in the nation. “My friends and I rented this townhouse with a huge deck and had insane parties.”

For a short while Josh slowed down his drinking when he met his ex-wife and she became pregnant. Unfortunately, when she suffered a miscarriage, he ramped it back up. Just five years ago Josh hit rock bottom, starting with two different doctors telling him, “if you don’t stop drinking, you’ll be dead in a year.” He responded, “Good, let’s get this over with.”

On St. Patrick’s Day in Boston, Josh sat in his apartment with a gun, ready to take his life. What stopped him?

“I’ve had friends take their own lives and I saw what it did to their family and friends, and what it did to me,” he explained. “I couldn’t do that to my family. Looking back, I didn’t want to die, I just wanted the pain to go away.”

That’s when Josh’s mother found NERC and helped him into detox. “It was my first and only time in treatment and I was scared. Was this going to be like prison? Will I have to fight people?” he wondered.

“The staff at NERC were just absolutely incredible,” Josh explained. “The nurses don’t have a ‘one size fits all’ approach, they treated me like an individual and based their treatment on what I was drinking. They treated me like a person.”

Fast forward to 2020 and Josh now works with us at NERC in admissions, where he’s able to bring a personal approach to helping people entering treatment. “This place means so much to me, it saved my life.”

For the full interview with Chaz & AJ, listen here.

If you or a loved one is struggling with addiction, call the New England recovery Center today at 1-877-MyRehab.