Autobiography:
Chemical substances and how they affect our brains have always fascinated me. Fortunately, I haven’t been curious enough to find out for myself firsthand, despite the struggles I’ve experienced throughout my life. I grew up in an authoritarian household with a neglectful father. My parents had a very codependent marriage, which I later adapted to my own relationships later in life. I’ve always had a lot of anxiety and depression as a child. Reaching adolescence I experienced my first episode of mania at age 14 and was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 15. At age 21 I became involved with a severely psychological abusive partner for four years, which damaged my self-esteem, took away my voice, and sense of self. I then married an even more abusive man at age 25 and divorced at 26, which resulted in PTSD. I then entered an intensive outpatient DBT (dialectical behavior therapy) program which has helped extensively. I rediscovered who I was, what I wanted, my passions, developed coping strategies in emotional regulation, and discovered how to stand up for myself and that I wasn’t selfish for not conforming to what everyone else wanted me to. I briefly dated someone who was in recovery for a meth addiction and hearing stories inspired me to work with others suffering from substance abuse disorders. …show more content…
Often people suffering from other mental health issues self-medicate by using alcohol and drugs and I think the mental health issues should be addressed foremost to prevent future relapses. Those working with substance abuse disorders should go into it with an unbiased approach and understand that addicts have lived all walks of life. They’re our family members, our friends, doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, teachers, church members; they are no better or worse than anyone
Chemical substances and how they affect our brains have always fascinated me. Fortunately, I haven’t been curious enough to find out for myself firsthand, despite the struggles I’ve experienced throughout my life. I grew up in an authoritarian household with a neglectful father. My parents had a very codependent marriage, which I later adapted to my own relationships later in life. I’ve always had a lot of anxiety and depression as a child. Reaching adolescence I experienced my first episode of mania at age 14 and was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 15. At age 21 I became involved with a severely psychological abusive partner for four years, which damaged my self-esteem, took away my voice, and sense of self. I then married an even more abusive man at age 25 and divorced at 26, which resulted in PTSD. I then entered an intensive outpatient DBT (dialectical behavior therapy) program which has helped extensively. I rediscovered who I was, what I wanted, my passions, developed coping strategies in emotional regulation, and discovered how to stand up for myself and that I wasn’t selfish for not conforming to what everyone else wanted me to. I briefly dated someone who was in recovery for a meth addiction and hearing stories inspired me to work with others suffering from substance abuse disorders. …show more content…
Often people suffering from other mental health issues self-medicate by using alcohol and drugs and I think the mental health issues should be addressed foremost to prevent future relapses. Those working with substance abuse disorders should go into it with an unbiased approach and understand that addicts have lived all walks of life. They’re our family members, our friends, doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, teachers, church members; they are no better or worse than anyone