On the rise at Phoenix

Music program helped put addict on road to recovery

Even in a time when addicts are getting younger, Christopher Vega’s start down the wrong path in life is still hard to fathom. The New York native, 28, took his first prescription opioid when he was 11 years old. “My mother had MS (multiple sclerosis) and she always had pain pills around,” Vega recalls. “I saw my brothers would swipe a few and take them, so I kind of followed suit.” His drugs of choice changed from OxyContin and hydrocodone to heroin as he got older. Vega says he was eventually using 10 to 15 bags of heroin a day at the height of his addiction. “I was spending $100-plus every day,” he says. “I lost jobs; I lost relationships. “It all kind of came to a head,” Vega says, “when I found myself waking up in Union Square not knowing how I got there.”

He started searching for addiction treatments online, where he came across Phoenix House, a nonprofit drug and alcohol rehabilitation organization that helps 18,000 adults and teens through its addiction treatments programs each year.

“I just decided enough was enough, and I had to check myself in,” Vega says.

He enrolled in one of its residential treatment centers in New York five months ago. Vega, who picked up his first guitar around the same time he picked up his prescription drug habit, participates in the center’s Phoenix Rising Music Program. The program was created by Kara DioGuardi, the Grammy-winning singer and songwriter and former “American Idol” judge, as a way to increase self-esteem and reduce anxiety and depression in people during their recovery process.

Having a creative outlet through which to channel his energy and emotions “had a huge impact” on his recovery, Vega says.

“I think the first Sunday I was here, I went to check it out,” he says. “I walked in, and I was intrigued. They had a sound board; they had an electric drum set; they had guitars, bass, sort of everything I could want. So every week, I would just stop by.

“It started by just picking up the guitar and jamming a little bit, but eventually I realized that there were some other clients here who were talented.”

Vega eventually teamed up with another client with a good singing voice. “So I approached him about getting something together,” he says.

“We started writing some music and bringing it into the music room and trying to record it. It ended up becoming a weekly thing where every week we were working on music, going in and recording it.”

Vega sees the music program as instrumental to his recovery process.

“I came in here really broken down and it was a huge relief to see that there were other people here going through the same thing. Just being able to talk about stuff honestly and fill my time with productive stuff,” he says.

“It was a huge stress relief coming in here. They have all sorts of medical and therapeutic opportunities that I’d never taken advantage of in the outside world.”

As he focuses on his sobriety, Vega says he feels hopeful for his future.

“As of now, I feel great,” he says. “Coming in here has made me feel like there is an opportunity for me to do something out in the world.

“I feel like I’m starting to be myself again, the person that I am when I’m not addicted to drugs.”