Interview with Angela Thompson

ACE: Tell us a little about yourself.
Angela Thompson (AT): I am a 36 year old married mother of 2 small kids. My daughter, Emma, is 8 and my son, Connor, is 6. My husband Matt is 50 and we have been married for 8 years. It has never been easy for Matt and I. The hardest obstacle has always been financial and for Matt it still is. But for me, becoming a parent and trying to be a good parent, became and will always be the hardest and most challenging thing for me.


ACE: When did you start using inhalants?
AT: It was a day in early 2009. I can remember feeling very overwhelmed and hopeless. My depression was at a all time low and at that point there was no amount of alcohol or any drug that could take me away from my reality. That weekend we were at my grandparents house in New Jersey. It was late and everyone was asleep. I was sitting at the computer and I still don’t know how it occurred to me. I’ve never thought about or had any knowledge of inhalants before that night. But I picked up the can of [duster] that was next to the computer and started inhaling it. Never thinking that at that moment my life would never be the same. I would never be the same.

ACE: What led you to inhalants or where did you first learn about huffing?
AT: I have been suffering from depression since the age of 11. As I got older my depression got worse. Until I was about 20 I was able to stay sheltered from “the real world.” I was very naïve to some of the bad things that were out there just waiting for me. “Sex, Drugs and Rock-N-Roll” just to name a few. Nothing in Moderation. Never looking at what the consequences might be for every choice I made. I was very immature and could not see past that day, at that moment. “I want what I want when I want it” was my motto. Putting those factors (and a few more) together, it was only a matter of time before I would start self medicating with anything that made me feel good. For most of my twenties my life was all about getting and staying high or drunk. But everything changed when I got pregnant with my daughter. It was like a miracle. Suddenly my depression was lifted. I felt as though I was on a 9 month natural high. I felt great so there was no reason or need to put anything in my body that would harm the baby growing inside me. For that I was very grateful. I didn’t want to think about what was going to happen once she was born. What I never imagined was that my depression would or could get any worse than it had been.

About two years after my son was born we had to move out of our apartment because we just could not afford to stay there. We ended up having to share an apartment with my mother. I knew that situation was a bad idea from the start but we were out of options. Having to live in a 2 bedroom apartment with the five of us brought back a lot of tension and hostility. I ended up going back to work at one of the bars in town. Most days I would close that bar and not get home ‘til 3 or 4 am. While working at the bar I started drinking a lot. I got to the point where I needed to bring my own bottle of vodka to work. It would be gone by the end of my shift. In November of 2008 I was told by the owner to take a vacation. I knew I would never go back there. For the next couple months I stayed home with the kids and just wallowed in my own depression and self pity. I was definitely lower than any low I had experienced before. I had become very hopeless. I felt my children and my husband would suffer and never have the life that they so desperately deserved. And I blamed myself to the point of self hatred. I could not see or find any hope for a better future. I just thought we were stuck in this hole and in no way was I strong enough to dig us out.

"5 day stay in the burn unit of a hospital because of a
chemical burn covering half of my face."

ACE: What were the negative impacts inhalants had on your life while you were using them?
AT: Before I started huffing I never really had bad consequences throughout my years of drinking and illegal drug use. Almost immediately after I started huffing I started having unbelievable consequences. My clean driving record was gone with 8 car accidents, 3 totaled cars and 2 DUI’s in 3 months. I also tossed my clean criminal record out the window with too many arrests to count, 6 days in jail, years of probation and thousands of dollars in fines. And let’s not forget the physical consequences with 8 rehabs, 3 mental hospitals, hundreds of trips to the ER and a 5 day stay in the burn unit of the hospital because of a chemical burn covering half of my face. I always had cuts and bruises from head to toe. And there is no doubt in my mind that I caused irreversible brain damage. Putting that poison in my body made me literally crazy. I did and said a lot of dangerous and insane things while using. There are quite a few things I don’t remember doing or saying which I consider a blessing. But when I look back at some of the things I do remember, it makes me sick to my stomach. It’s like looking at a stranger because that person is not me and will never be again.

Chemical burn caused by inhalants.



ACE: What long-term effects did inhalants have on your life? On your family?
AT: As far as the long-term effects inhalants had on our live[s], it’s so important and crucial to stay focused on the positive effects. There is no way that I can turn back time and change what I did. What’s done is done but I have to believe that everything happens for a reason. The only way I was going to change my life and find happiness was to change everything including the way I was thinking. I had to change a negative person into a positive one. But it’s a choice. I choose to look at the positive effects this whole mess brought.


ACE: What made you decide to stop using inhalants?
AT: I decided long before I actually stopped that I wanted to stop. I tried many times to get clean and sober. There were many factors involved in finally staying stopped. The biggest and most important factor was definitely finding the treatment that worked for my depression after years and years of trying to find the right one. Also, from the first day I became clean. I started researching anything I could find on inhalants and the dangers of inhalants. I had no idea what I was putting in my body. At some point I just felt in my heart and knew that if I used one more time that something really bad was going to happen. I think it’s a miracle that I survived a inhalant addiction. Many people don’t live through this addiction. I feel so grateful to come out of this alive and with a new outlook on life. It was like God opened my eyes to see what my purpose was in life. I truly believe my life was spared in order to help others by educating anyone I can on the Dangers of Inhalants and sharing my experience. I also found another passion in crafting that I never knew I had. I went through over 30 years never knowing or finding my purpose and passions in life. It wasn’t until I came out of this deadly addiction, that I found my true purpose for being here. And for that, I am truly grateful.


ACE: What advice would you give young students and adults who are considering using inhalants or who are trying to stop using inhalants?
AT: For anyone considering or already using inhalants I would tell them to educate themselves and out what exactly they are putting in their body. Someone said it best—Every time you inhale those chemicals it’s like playing Russian roulette with your life. Think about how your family would feel if you ended up dead for a 10 second high. Is it really worth it? What I want everyone to understand is most addicts also suffer from mental health issues in some form or another. It is so important for everyone to know that you cannot treat your addiction until you find help with your mental health issues.

One of the things that amazed me was the lack of education on inhalants, especially by those who should know about inhalants. Doctors, nurses, EMTs, therapists, police officers, and drug and alcohol counselors- just to name a few. There is a huge misconception about inhalants by drug and alcohol facilities. The treatment centers that I have been in treat all addictions the same. No matter what your drug of choice is, the treatment plan is pretty much the same. But what they don’t know is that inhalants are not drugs. They are toxic chemicals and poisons. They need to be treated differently. There are also a lot of parents that are not educated and in denial about the possibility of their child using inhalants. There are more and more huffing deaths each year but due to the lack of education these deaths have been attributed to other causes.

One of the many stories involving inhalant deaths in my community that still baffles me happened in the late 90’s. Five juniors from a local high school were killed in a horrific car accident. The impact of the car crash tore bark off a tree along U.S. 1. By all accounts, the girls were exemplary citizens, bright students and popular. But neither residents of the area, school officials nor, least of all, the parents of the girls prepared for what followed that week. A report from the Delaware County Medical Examiner’s office said that the driver of the car had inhaled a chemical solvent that could have impaired her judgment. Further analysis found that three of the other girls had inhaled as well. “We were finally getting back to normal,” said the superintendent in response to the medical examiner’s report. “Then this hit.” More information on this incident can be found at New York Times.

Awareness is one of the most complex problems and it was reflected there that week in the surprise, bewilderment and even denial by some that these teenagers would have used a chemical inhalant to get high. The principal of the high school, which has about 1,300 students, said beer was typically the intoxicant of choice among the students, many of whom come from stable, middle-class families. He said neither teachers nor school administrators ever suspected that students were involved with inhalants.

A survey by the Consumer Product Safety Commission found that 91 percent of parents talked to their children about substance abuse but fewer than half said they ever talked about inhalants. And 95 percent said they believed their children had never used inhalants. ''This is a very difficult situation,'' said chairman of the safety commission. ''Even the best of parents don't realize there could be a danger, that a child could even die on the first sniff.''

I believed the stigma surrounding inhalant abuse is a huge factor in the denial and ignorance of this growing deadly epidemic. Surveys on inhalant abuse in the late 90s concluded that a large percent of inhalant users were mostly school-aged children. I think if a survey on inhalant abuse was conducted today, they would find that many adults are abusing inhalants. Adults who use inhalants are generally chronic or long-term inhalant abusers and are among the most difficult drug abuse patients to treat.

For more information on Angela's story or if you would like to reach out to Angela please e-mail info@consumered.org and we will help you get in touch with her.