Rich Demott:
CLASS OF 1978
Abraham Clark High SchoolClass of 1978
Roselle, NJ
Rich's Story
I was kind of quiet in high school....I believe because of all the trauma, abuse and abandonment that was occuring
at home....a lot of alcoholism, addiction and mental illness. There was a fair amount of police cars and ambulances at my house during elementary school. Two of my siblings died from drugs and alcohol. My other two just barely survived....finally getting clean and sober in their late fifties. My parents had me in their alcoholic and valium-dependent mid -40's. I believe my parents were at least 15 years older than most of my friend's folks ......so between the generation gap and their addictions...I did not have much of a bond with them. They were like dysfunctional grandparents and my older siblings could be brutally abusive in many ways because of their demons.....plus the pain and horror of watching them trying to (and eventually succeeding in) kill themselves. My parents bought their first house in their 50's and lost it in their 60's. It was a decent sized house plus with them being 15-20 years older....there was an illusion that we were more well off than other Roselle families....which was far from the truth although we did have a few middle-class years while I was in Locust School before all th...Expand for more
e DeMott family demons started arriving on the scene....to pretty much torment me the rest of my days in one way or another.
I won't mention any names but because of my background I was attracted to the sickest kids although their families seemed more loving and together than mine. I kind of ignored the healthy and slightly nerdy kids....because I was trying to be cool. I think not having my growth spurt until 11th grade also played a role in my later demons, especially with women. My mother and sister's addiction and mental illness definitely made me rather codependent with women...jumping through hoops to try and get love and sex and connections/validation. I've picked the sickest women throughout my life up until recently.
I drank and drugged moderately in high school but it got worse between 18 and 20 and then again at 22 when I flunked out of college. I finally got clean and sober when I was 24 and a half years old. I was in AA for a little while but now attend Al-Anon regularly.
I've worked in rehabs and mental hospitals the for the last 25 years and now have a small, private practice in Westfield working primarily with the recovering community but also with regular anxiety, depression, PTSD folks, as well.
Register for Free to view all details!
Reunions
