“I blacked out, refusing to leave the shop. My husband had to carry me out. I woke up to use the bathroom the next day, but I didn’t make it. I fainted. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced. I panicked. ‘I can’t see!’ My temperature was dropping. He called an ambulance. My parents had just brought our kids home and here I was, being taken out on a stretcher. I could not make my children witness such a horror. I HAD TO STOP.”
‘Not today, honey, Mommy doesn’t feel good.’ I was lying, manipulating, hiding how much I was drinking. I had terrible anxiety.’: Woman relapses due to brother’s ‘tragedy’ cancer diagnosis, insists ‘relapse is not a death sentence. You can come back stronger than ever!’
‘Why are you so loud, Nicole?’ a boy asked. ‘You can’t be fat AND loud.’ That moment set something off in me.’: Woman shares extreme weight loss journey, ‘The joy I’ve felt is indescribable!’
“The summer after I got clean, I was at an amusement park with friends. I recall waiting in line for rides and pleading with God, ‘Please, please let me fit.’ I even told the attendant, ‘You can push as hard as you can, I promise you won’t hurt me.’ As 3 people pushed down on the lap bar, I remember tears welling up in my eyes. I turned to my then boyfriend and said, ‘I need help. I’m going to eat myself to death.’ The straps didn’t fit. I couldn’t fit into a single ride.”
‘I almost died on an airplane because I took too many shots with this old creep. I woke up on the floor with an oxygen mask on me and a frantic flight attendant trying to wake me.’: 27-year-old overcomes alcoholism, ‘I knew I had to change’
“I lived for the thrill of being a sneak. I thought I was doing a good job hiding my secret, but I wasn’t. I was in a toxic relationship with a drug dealer and I honestly didn’t want to live anymore. I was so ashamed. One night I went to church with a few shots in me, but I left midway through worship because I couldn’t fake it. That was when the miracle finally had happened for me. I walked into my first meeting half-drunk from the warm bottle of wine under my driver’s seat in my car, and I asked for help.”
‘My birth mom did cocaine while pregnant. I was hooked before I was even born. ‘Don’t stop,’ my boyfriend told me. I listened.’: Woman overcomes life-long battle with addiction, ‘Sober is sexy!’
“I knew they would reject me if I said no. ‘Sure, I’ll try it.’ I made a fool of myself. My ‘friends’ loved it. They bragged about me at school, about how cool I was. It was a thrill to be accepted for once. I didn’t know it was for the wrong reasons. It got to the point where I was homeless, using drugs to try to overdose. But it never worked. Every morning, I would wake up, cry, and tell myself it was the last time I was going to take drugs. But every night I would use again, trying to kill myself. Every day, and every night.”
‘Lisa, marry me.’ ‘Ask me when you’re sober,’ I’d say. With enough alcohol, he’d tell me he was God’: Woman spends years with alcoholic, realizes ‘I didn’t have to stay with him to prove I was tough enough’
“Will took me to a graduation party for his ex-girlfriend. Turns out she was younger than I was. He’d started seeing her when she was underage, causing a scandal. We both had a lot to drink. By the time we got back to my apartment and crawled into bed, fueled by seeing him interact with his ex, I was determined to consummate what we had going on. I thought it would help me keep him. I did. We did. I convinced him. I woke in the morning to find he was gone. There was no note. Nothing.”
‘This guy is capable of killing you. I’ve never told someone they need a gun, but you do.’ I had to file bankruptcy. I was so naïve.’: Young woman gets sober to save her life from ‘sociopath’ ex, ‘I dodged an ATOMIC BOMB’
“Girls started sending me screenshots. He’d been taking them on dates behind my back. His ex of 10 years came forward with times he showed up at her house claiming to be suicidal and begging for her back. So I did what any normal girl would do – I left him. But I allowed his charm to get the best of me. I was fully addicted to him. My mistake. ‘Would you be open to checking out the sex club down the street?,’ he asked one night. Soon our lifestyle of gambling and drinking wasn’t enough. I was a part of this secret underground community. I’d be lying if I said it was wasn’t a little liberating.”
‘Daddy, I choose MY mommy.’ He snuck into my bedroom and set a basket of clothes on fire. He cried with me.’: Woman loses both parents to addiction, re-claims her life, ‘I chose my own path’
“At 11, I was getting ready for school when I heard a knock. I opened to blue lights, police closing in. My parents were caught in a drug bust and a reporter was catching it all on camera. At first, my mom didn’t want to be seen ‘behind bars.’ Tears just rolled down both our faces. She put her hand against the glass, and I put my hand against hers. Kids talked about plans for the weekend, homework. I’d write letters to my mom, telling her how much I loved and missed her, and how I wished I could have some of her spaghetti.”
‘Sweetie, do you have someone you can call?’ I ask, ‘Is he going to die? OMG, I have to tell my boys.’: After losing husband to sudden stroke, widow finds love again, ‘When we first hugged, he was like home to me’
“I was DONE dating after I found out a guy I was talking to was married. ‘There’s this lawyer I see in court. Every time I see him, I think I should introduce you two,’ my cousin told me. Before I could say how crazy she was, she introduced us online. I knew immediately he was different and special. As his arms wrapped around my waist, I knew these were the arms I would be in for the rest of my life.”
‘We were 2 hopeless drug addicts society had written off. We were felons, dealers, thieves. Then, we found each other.’: Couple find hope, sobriety after years of addiction, ‘we are finally free!’
“I came from a good home. I didn’t suffer physical or sexual abuse. I didn’t feel ‘less than.’ I was a 3-sport athlete, excellent student. But I found a new love: drinking and getting high. My friend’s parents let us get wasted in their houses. I’d wake up, teeth chattering from withdrawals. I remember thinking, ‘I’m a college graduate! How did this happen?!’ Addiction had me whipped, and bad.”
‘His hands were like the devil. They dragged me down to hell to become his mistress. I wasn’t ready to die.’: Woman declares her abuser ‘no longer has power over me, I am a survivor’
“The moment I saw him, I instantly fell for his trap. My eyes met his, and I was immediately hooked. My friend leaned over and told me his name. ‘He’s a cop. He’s well known around here.’ He said they called him the ‘King.’ All hail the King. Our hands met, then our lips, we were inseparable from that night on. His neighbors warned me. They told me to run.”
