Emma

Has a lived experience of addiction

I always thought about addiction as a separate entity. One that happened to uneducated people, sick people, scared people. Not people like me. By the time I'd figured out I was really in trouble, I was a mum and petrified of what being honest might cost me, as well as my daughter. What would people think? How could I ever let go of the one thing left I could consistently count on?

I bounced back and forth between detox and doctors, never quite willing to consider rehab. Until, all the other options ran out. By the time I made the jump, my relationships were non-existent, my daughter was in care and I was in crisis.

It took 3 round trips of wonderful therapeutic community experiences to start to rise up. It's a work in progress. Today I am proud.