Real Recovery StoriesMoments of Clarity

When you picture someone living with substance use disorder, who do you think of? Is it your sister, your husband or your friend? Because the truth is, substance misuse can affect anyone.

Each day, South Dakotans are making the brave choice to start their recovery journey. Meet a few and watch their personal stories of hope and clarity.

For Ronald Goodsell, member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, his journey is proof that recovery isn’t linear – and a lapse isn’t a sign of failure. “Throughout my life, I've been through treatment 15 times. I think by the time I was 18, I'd been through at least seven times.” But in 2022, Ron had an epiphany that changed how he looked at recovery.

"During my last relapse, I know it was my higher power beaming through that substance into my life. One of the things I had to do was humbly surrender. I had to throw off everything that I knew to be right and take what people were telling me and apply it to my life. So I did.”

Ron continued to seek out professional help, including housing programs, peer groups and the support of his community to build structure and spirituality into his recovery. 

“I would pull out my meditation books to set the stage for my day. I would go to our tribal fitness center and exercise. And after that I would come home, get ready for work. Structure was big for me. I had to literally get a calendar, write out what I was doing every single day from treatment to aftercare meeting and calling my sponsor, to meeting with my spiritual mentor, and attending religious activities like church or sweat.”

Ron’s heartfelt story hasn’t just had an impact on his community – it’s sparked real change and new resources for others battling substance misuse. In addition to leading peer groups, Ron is a founder and board president of Dakota Plains Transitional Living Centers where his experience and story can help guide others.

“I always tell people to meet those who are struggling where they're at, and just continue to love them. Don't enable them, but love them. It's one of the reasons why we started our nonprofit. We believe that if we can build up our community, our community will start to heal. Our community will start to be a safer place.”

“Everything’s got to surround your recovery. So I put my recovery, my spirituality, first and foremost. I just continue to put one foot in front of the other. And I always know that my higher power is going to meet me along the way as long as I continue to do his will and not mine. Things are always going to work out. And they do.”

For Matt Rushing, the path to substance misuse started like it does for many people – with prescription medication and physical or emotional pain. “When I was younger, I got in a dirt bike accident. I was in the hospital for a little bit, and they had put me on pain medication. Being 13 years old with a prescription for Percocet… things kind of took off from there.”

Matt’s opioid use was part of his life for years, both before and after incarceration. He never knew how to get help – until he found support through treatment including Suboxone, a type of Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD).

“Suboxone has saved my life. It got rid of the urges. I struggled so hard, and once those urges went away, I had realized that was my problem. Now, I can think about what I need to do throughout the day rather than struggling to stay sober."

MOUD isn’t the only thing that’s helped Matt navigate recovery. He stays focused and finds purpose in his family, his support network and by staying busy with work and hobbies.

“If you stay connected with the people inside of recovery, they're always going to steer you in the right way. I listen to music constantly – that kind of blocks me out from random thoughts. Volunteer or get involved in general. You can't just sit around and think all day about the same thing. I work three jobs now. I have two daughters and a baby on the way.”

“I have so much to look forward to. And when I go home at night, I almost don't want to go to bed because I enjoy my life so much. I don't want to turn around and go back down that same path.”

Substance use disorder can affect anyone. But Dr. Melissa Dittberner (or Dr. Mo as most people know her), wants people to know that it doesn’t have to limit your potential. "My name is Dr. Mo and I'm a person in long-term recovery. I'm also a professor, CEO, the executive director of a nonprofit and a person who is really focused on giving back to those who are in need of being lifted up.”

Dr. Mo started using substances in her teens through early adulthood until an overdose made her reevaluate her life – and rewrite her future. “I never realized that I needed help, but when I overdosed I was like, ‘Oh, this is not a wonderful feeling.’ I didn't have the support that I needed in that time.”

Dr. Mo took control of her recovery using positive self-talk and open communication to reframe her thoughts and shake off the labels society often gives those with substance use disorder.

“I have a lot of titles that I didn't give myself. I was a single mom, I'm a high school dropout. I was a person who struggled with substance use disorder. But I'm not an addict. I'm a person in recovery who has overcame.”

“I made spaces where we could have conversations about sobriety and what it looked like for others. I reached out to people who had been in sobriety for a very long time. I spent a lot of time changing how I spoke to myself and how I looked at the world.”

Through her lived experience and working with others in recovery, Dr. Mo knows that getting help is hard. But we can all make it easier by getting educated and addressing our own internal bias.

“I wish people understood that addiction is a disorder in the dopamine system, and that sometimes it looks messier than other diseases do. But we have to break the stigma because people die when we stigmatize them. We’ve got to stop using terms that hold people back, and we need to be able to say, ‘it's okay to get help.'"

“If you care about someone who's struggling, you have to radically love them for who and where they are. And unfortunately, sometimes you have to walk that path with them until they're ready for help. It's difficult. But it's the truth.”

Substance use disorder doesn’t happen out of the blue. For many people like Wes McDonald, it begins as a way to cope with other mental health issues.

“I had depression, I had anxiety, I had ADHD. I've been seeing a psychiatrist or a therapist since the age of second grade. And then all these emotional issues, I guess, led to me seeing my friends drunk and high. They were happy, and I wasn't happy.”

Wesley’s substance misuse started young, but his recovery journey did, too. After trying different treatment programs, he says recovery groups were his turning point. “What kept me sober was the recovery groups. Today, I have a lot less friends, but I have deeper connections with the friends I do have. People who I can rely on and tell me how it is.”

Wes still attends meetings almost every day. He sees peer support as such a key part of recovery that he’s devoting his future to helping others in the same way.

“I work as a counselor in training, and I run an intensive outpatient group. I'm pursuing degrees in addiction counseling and social work. Because I couldn't have done it alone. I wanted to do it alone because I was afraid of opening up. But I couldn’t have done it alone. And I think anyone who's thinking they can is going to end up seeing me in group soon.”

In addition to helping those in recovery, Wes is passionate about helping the general public view those affected by substance use differently.

“It took me a while to realize this was a disease and not a choice. I think the second we put that label on people, they're not a person anymore because every person who has a substance use disorder is a son or a daughter or a mother or a father or an uncle or an aunt.”