One of the best outlets for me is writing in a journal. I love my life, but there were times when I didn’t feel that way. Writing helped me realize that I needed help. I want to share with you an excerpt from my journal during one of the times that I felt really alone. […]
Anxiety was an inevitable part of my life; I have become convinced after years of therapy and understanding that my mental health disorder was predetermined by genetics. However, the factors leading to my flavor of anxiety was shaped through numerous experiences: being adopted, suffering from abuse as a child, feeling invalidated when expressing that abuse […]
When I think “recovery” my mind often goes to addiction; however, recovery can be applied to any struggle with a mental health disorder. I did not consider myself to be in “recovery” until recently. As someone who works as a mental health professional, I know a lot about mental health disorders and SHOULD be able […]
Hi my name is Kaleigh and I want to share with you a little bit about me. My addiction started early at the age of 13, when I had been prescribed opiates for an oral procedure. It wasn’t that I took it and automatically became addicted, it was that when I took it correctly from […]
Growing up, I had a great home life, a close-knit group of friends, I was active in many sports and clubs and I was a good student. When in college, I didn’t drink much, was usually the designated driver, and knew that breaking the law had its consequences. In my Senior year of college, I […]
In 1990 I took a new job in charge of a crew that worked nearly 16 hours a day. The weight of the whole team’s productivity and safety was squarely on my shoulders. I found myself drinking a bit more, but didn’t think much about it. In the spring of 1992 the company hired another […]
My story starts with my father who was an alcoholic and had six years recovery with 1 intermittent slip. He tragically passed away when I was 21 years old and he was my very best friend. I grew up in Ala-tot, Ala-teen, Ala-non and graduated as I like to call it into AA (LOL but […]
I am Karen. I am 37 years old, a single mom to my 16-year-old son Dominic. My addiction and mental health issues start at a very young age. I have done a lot of bad things in my life when I was out there using. I was sick of living, I was lost and broken […]
My name is Karen. A wife of 32 years. A mom of two. A business owner. Possibly your child’s soccer coach or girl scout leader. A volunteer for many organizations. And I am an addict…. This will surprise many who know me. You? An addict? But you have a beautiful house, a loving family. […]
My name is Darrell, and I am in long term recovery. The environment I felt trapped in growing up perhaps does not fit the normal story of happiness and love. I always knew I was different, I just did not understand the reason. There were people who looked at my life and responded with “why […]
