Jimmy Dimon
Earlier in his life, alcoholism and substance use disorder (SUD) had stolen everything from Jimmy Dimon, including his family, his livelihood, his daughter, and even his very sense of self. After years of masking his trauma and feelings with alcohol, he realized it could soon steal his life.
“One day, I looked in a mirror and I just didn’t recognize myself. I was grayish. My hair was terrible. My facial hair was gone. I just looked like hell,” he said. “And I remember saying to myself, ‘If you don’t get help, you’re gonna die’. And I called Sacred Heart that day. I got in 10 days later.”
Now, Dimon, 48, has been in recovery for approximately 10 years. He has a fiancée and joint custody of his seven-year-old son – his “mini-me” – both of whom enjoy hunting, fishing, camping, and hiking.
He serves as the lead of transportation with Blue Water Recovery and Outreach Center (BWROC), a nonprofit recovery community organization founded in 2017. BWROC offers a unique, peer-driven, non-clinical support system led by others in recovery.
Dimon finds purpose in arranging transportation to rehabilitation facilities for others who are entering recovery or need to return to a treatment center. He has built a community through BWROC, Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Co-Dependency Anonymous, and Adult Children of Alcoholic Families, Alcoholic Parents, and Dysfunctional Families (CODA), that has supported and encouraged him in his recovery.
“Sacred Heart, recovery housing, and BWROC, they saved my life,” Dimon said. “My life today: I’m engaged to an absolutely beautiful, awesome woman. I have my own house. I get my son on the weekends. I have an excellent sponsor. I have really good people in my life.”
BWROC’s employees, peer recovery coaches, and volunteers are usually in recovery themselves. This real-world experience allows them to empathize with program participants who are new to or struggling with recovery. The organization was awarded the prestigious CAPRSS Accreditation by the Council on Accreditation of Peer Recovery Support Services, a testament to BWROC’s dedication to providing participants with the highest quality service.
“I Felt Like I was Hopeless”
Dimon was first prescribed opiates in his teenage years for sports injuries and aches and pains, although he used the medication as prescribed. It wasn’t until his early 20s, when he got his hand stuck in a sanding wheel at work, that he was prescribed a higher dose of opiates that triggered his substance abuse.
“The doctor that I saw told me, when I got my prescription to take two of them,” Dimon said. “Taking two of them at one time was the trigger to start abusing them. It was almost instantaneous. As soon as I took two, I was high. And for about the next eight years, I had a serious issue with them.”
He managed to get clean from painkillers. But then he experienced the loss of his nearly three-year-old nephew, a divorce, and the 2008 economic recession.
Sinking further into alcoholism, he lost joint custody of his daughter six years after his divorce, entered an unhealthy romantic relationship, and lost contact with his family for approximately seven years.
“During that time, I felt like I was hopeless. I had nobody to turn to,” he said. “And that’s when I found liquor. Liquor stopped the crying, you know? And once I figured that out, I had a bottle of liquor next to me at all times for the next two to two-and-a-half years.”
Dimon relapsed – a common occurrence for those in recovery – several more times after his initial stint at Sacred Heart. The longest and most severe relapse led him to abuse alcohol for more than a year and caused severe malnutrition and alcohol poisoning.
It took time for him to take the recovery steps and teachings to heart, but he grew stronger in it once he did. He left his job, which required frequent travel and cut him off from his support network. He left an unhealthy romantic relationship and entered recovery housing.
“I started to really follow what was suggested when it was suggested, instead of trying to manipulate it into my way,” Dimon said. “I had to surrender.”
Finding Hope in Recovery
Dimon encouraged those who are new to recovery to find a supportive community.
“Follow suggestions. Get a sponsor. Get a group home and surround yourself with people that are like-minded and that will keep an eye on what you’re doing, because a lot of times our behaviors will give us away before we relapse,” he said. “If we notice a change in behaviors, we’ll pull somebody aside and say, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’”
Dimon said he might have prevented substance abuse by dealing with his grief and emotions in a healthier way when he first experienced them, especially at the loss of his nephew.
“If there was anything I could have done to prevent my addictions from getting as badly as it did, is I would have sought therapy when my family did,” Dimon said. “But I let my pride, my ego, stand in the way. I had to be strong for all of them, and just kind of stuff my own feelings down, which is absolutely the wrong way to handle your feelings. You have to deal with your feelings.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, learn more about what you can do by contacting the Blue Water Recovery and Outreach Center at (810) 689-4858 or via email at contact@bwroc.org.