“I felt perpetually punished for existing. I was barred from running, then from even walking. I realized if I stayed this way, I would die.”
‘You don’t have to punish yourself’ Blood dripped out of my nose and mouth. I believed I deserved my misery.’: Woman shares recovery journey with anorexia
‘Heart pounding, hands sweating, I fell to the ground screaming. I truly thought I was dying.’: Woman details mental health, sobriety journey to ‘end the stigma’
“We stayed up until 8 a.m. drinking. In a panic, I realized I had to be at work in an hour. So, I popped a few Adderall, went to my job, and continued drinking all day after. I didn’t think I had a problem.”
‘How do I know if I’m an alcoholic?’ I got blackout drunk and kissed a total stranger.’: Woman thanks husband for supporting her sobriety journey
“I had a bad concussion, a sprained neck, a separated shoulder, and a few burns and bruises. I was alive. No one knew the truth. I was invincible, and I kept drinking.”
‘I expected to be tucking kids in, singing lullabies. Instead, I was dancing on speakers in an underground nightclub.’: Mom of 3 shares sobriety journey
“I stumbled around the bathroom, my bra shoved down around my waist, covered in vomit. ‘Get in the bath.’ I sat as my husband sprayed me down, fully clothed, like a zookeeper washing a muddy elephant.”
‘I woke up to a burning sensation on my feet. I ripped the blankets off to find them charred and melted.’: Woman battling unexplained seizures thanks art for saving her life
“In a second, it all changed. I ran to the bathroom screaming with my hands over my mouth. I jumped in the tub, turned the cold water on. It felt like acid. The pain was like nothing on this earth. Soon, my left foot started to rot. I was a true zombie. I had no clue who my family was, I didn’t even recognize myself in the mirror.”
‘I found Aaron chugging a beer like his life depended on it. I left the room sick to my stomach.’: Wife of recovering addict says ‘shame has NO place here’
“I walked in and there was Aaron, sitting quietly with a 6-pack. ‘He’s only had a couple,’ I told myself. I said a silent prayer.”
‘You should have avoided the situation. Others have it MUCH worse.’: Sexual assault survivor says ‘trauma is not a competition’
“I told myself, ‘You should have been smarter.’ But it’s not up to you. It is NEVER your fault.”
‘What happened to your face and neck?’ In the blink of an eye, my brother became a monster.’: Childhood abuse survivor urges ‘letting go is the best gift we can give ourselves’
“There were blue-black marks everywhere. One never truly knows how fragile life is until you nearly lose it.”
‘My boyfriend said, ‘I don’t want to be with a slob.’ I became fitness obsessed. My wardrobe shifted to gym clothes only. If I went to bed hungry, I was a winner.’: Woman shares journey to self-love after eating disorder battle
“I eventually started looking in the mirror and hating myself. Why wasn’t I perfect? Why wasn’t I happy now I had lost more weight? So, I continued to lose it. And lose it. And lose it.”
‘What if someone calls you FAT again?’ That word held so much pain. I associated my worth with what my body looked like.’: Woman shares journey healing from eating disorder, ‘It’s worth the messiness’
“At 13, I started dieting and exercising compulsively. It became an obsession. I hung up pictures of bodies I wanted mine to look like in front of our treadmill. It can be gruesome to think of food, something you need to survive, as an enemy.”
