Contributor 1:
“I started using drugs in my teenage years to help me cope with depression. I needed to self medicate because I grew up in a very dysfunctional and abusive setting. The street drugs and parties were easier to access then good mental healthcare services. I got help from Crossroads Community Recovery Center because I wanted to learn how to cope with my anxiety and depression and manage my life more effectively without depending on street drugs. I’m grateful that there is the support and help so close to where I am living. Everyone can benefit from gaining information and coping skills to manage their lives better. We need more programs for dually diagnosed persons that are easy to access and affordable for those going through the recovery process.”
– Anonymous
Contributor 2:
There are so many lessons that recovery has taught me that it’s hard to voice them all. Some of the most important would be 1. A change in perception. I always thought of myself as a victim. Come to find out I was never a victim I was just in preperation. The pain I experienced was going to help others in the long run. I can’t begin to tell you how much relief I got when I finally realized this. 2. The value of a mistake. During my active addiction there wasn’t a lesson that I learned. I kept repeating the same mistakes over and over. (Insanity right?), recovery has given me the ability to learn from my mistakes, both past and present. I once heard there is no such thing as a mistake just an undesired result to one’s actions. I believe this to be somewhat true. The only mistake I can see is if I stop trying. 3. Recovery has taught me that loving self and others isn’t always easy or smooth sailing. Sometimes love is harsh. The pain of tough love is nothing however compared to the pain of losing someone you enabled to death. Life is a lesson..
Contributor 3:
My name is Jackie long and I have two yrs and two months in personal long term recovery. I chose recovery because I was tired of the self perpetuated lifestyle of victimization. I lived with the idea that because I was abused (sexually, physically, and psychologically) both in and out of foster care system that my life was meaningless, and my value was nill. The correctional system was tiring and the homelessness was taking it’s toll. I needed more value than the dollar amount that I had set for myself and I came to realize it had to start internally. I never could have imagined just how valuable I really was.
– Jackie Long