I never felt comfortable in my own skin as a kid and that discomfort ultimately led to my substance use. The first time I drank and smoked weed, it immediately relieved my pain. Within a matter of months, I was drinking whiskey out of my backpack at school and constantly under the influence. Naturally, my…
I grew up in Cary, NC, in a close-knit family and had the most splendid childhood imaginable. But when I was 12, one of the guys in our neighborhood who I looked up to accidentally shot himself in the head while playing a game of Russian Roulette with his friends. I was playing outside at…
Note: This article is a continuation of Healing Transitions’ SEE RECOVERY series. Some of what is told in this story reflect what was told in the previous two articles, so you will want to go back and read those first if you haven’t already. Read Chris’s story HERE. Read Chris’s Parents’ story HERE. I never…
Note: This article is a continuation of Healing Transitions’ SEE RECOVERY series. Some of what is told in this story reflect what was told in Chris’s recovery story, so you will want to go back and read that article first if you haven’t already. Read Chris’s story HERE. Growing up, Christopher was a quiet,…
Growing Up I had a pretty normal childhood, growing up. I’d never really get in trouble, I was a straight-A student, and had really good parents. I did feel a little socially awkward but had a small group of friends in school. In my junior year of high school, I started smoking weed. Weed led…
The Beginning I started drinking at 18, which is kind of a “late bloomer” for a drinker. I had been smoking pot and dropping acid before that, but when I started drinking I drank heavily. I’d drink as much as I could until I would black out because that was the cool thing to do.…
When I was growing up, I guess you would say that I was kind of a square, so I always followed my brothers and their friends so I could try and fit in with them. I would see them having fun drinking and doing drugs, so I tried it too. I didn’t really like the…
When I was young, I grew up with a family that was very loving. We moved around a lot because of my mom’s job, which meant that I would start getting along with the kids at my elementary school before having to move and try to fit in with kids from a new school that…
When I was 16 years old, I got drunk for the very first time. I thought it was normal because I was drinking with my friends on the weekend, and that’s what high school kids did. So I continued to party and drink, then two years later I tried cocaine for the first time and…
I was 34 years old when I entered the doors of Healing Transitions. I was broken and desperate for a dramatic and much-needed change in my life. My childhood dreams of becoming a nurse like my mother and grandmother had vanished due to my addiction. I was incapable of being a mother to my two…