Be sure to put #BattlingBARE as your referral.
Teal Star
For my daughter: The shock, resentment and bewilderment of how her brother, her friend and her confidant could let it get to that point. “We were raised the same, how can this be” were at the core of her frustration. Fear for his safety and sadness for his situation not far behind.
Knowing the pain that existed within my family was heart-wrenching but looking back the magnitude of the crisis was the thing that motivated and pushed us to deal with the reality of the situation and helped us find hope in the future. The pain and my desire to rid it from our lives helped me face my fears and years of co-dependent habits head on. It helped me seek help and take responsibility for what was mine and let go of what wasn’t. Living thru crisis brought with it change and hope. It created a bond with my son that didn’t exist before and it helped us learn to communicate openly and honestly. Is it something I wished for no, but it did allow us to create a new relationship upon which we can build. And for that I am grateful.
…Geoffrey’s Story:
For the longest time I wished I could be a normal kid, have lots of friends and enjoy my life. I didn’t know why I couldn’t just be happy.
Maybe it started when I was in first grade when I was verbally abused by my teacher; she told me I was stupid, lazy, worthless, and that I would never amount to anything. She led me to doubt that I was even capable of being a normal kid, and I believed her.
My parents noticed that something was going on, although they didn’t know what and I didn’t share what had happened to me. The solution was that they home school me. But by that time the damage was already done. I started to believe everything that my teacher had said about me. I hated myself and wanted it to be over I just wanted live a normal life rid of self-hatred.
Over the next couple of years it was as if I was just going thru the motions wishing for a way out. I began taking prescription meds just to stop the pain and escape the world around me. It worked for a little while but when the pain and hopelessness couldn’t be diminished I didn’t know what to do. I gave up on my life and the result was the first of many attempts to end my life.
What followed was a life absent of emotion and caring. I was dead inside and having my dad go into the military didn’t help. I had to move across the country to start over in a new place where I didn’t know anyone with a family that didn’t understand what I was going thru (mostly because I wouldn’t let them).
At that time my drug and alcohol abuse was getting a lot worse because it was the only thing that that could fill this empty void inside me (or so I thought). Looking back I now realize that all it did was put me into a deeper state of misery.
I finished high school, hoping that moving to college would be different. I thought the change in scenery would make everything better, but it only took a short time for me to realize that my problem was getting a lot worse.
I didn’t know what to do or how to fix things. I couldn’t see any way out and there were no answers for me. Or so I thought at the time. So on Oct 10, 2012 I knew that something had to change. Little did I know that the end to my suffering would come not from my overwhelming need to take my own life but from the professional help I would receive that addressed my depression, PTSD and abuse of alcohol and drugs.
The next day I found myself in treatment, feeling worse than I had before. No longer did I have the drugs or alcohol to escape my life. I was lost and I knew I had to deal with my issues. I received EMDR treatment to help me deal with the trauma
I experienced in grade school and learned coping skills that continue to help me every day. For the first time ever I saw a way out.
Today I am in recovery and am proud to be sober. My journey isn’t over but I can say that when I reached out and accepted the help being offered I found hope. I learned that the only way to find real happiness was to deal with situations as they came up and work through the challenges as they present themselves. My hope is to give back to those suffering like I had helping them see that there is a world with infinite possibilities available to us all. I know that nothing can hold me back and hope that by sharing my story you can see that too.
For more information and support please visit:
www.livingthroughcrisis.com
A division of:
Taking Care of YOU...