Originally written by Carrie K.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in a small community, people didn\u2019t talk about alcohol abuse. There was a stigma attached to those who the community suspected abused drugs but people rarely mentioned \u201cheavy drinkers\u201d or \u201cdrunks.\u201d I never knew what substance abuse was, what symptoms of alcoholism was or what chemical dependency was. It was a dirty secret that our tight-knit community never talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was not until my mid-twenties when my life was spiraling out of control that I had to figure out why I was so depressed, hopeless and careless about whether I lived or died. After being institutionalized for depression and going home with a renewed hope I thought I had overcome my season of depression. Every time I was hospitalized I was honest about the frequency of drinking but rarely about the amount. (I thought every twenty-something drank weekly, I was just able to drink more than most everyone I knew.) Not once, out of the five or so hospital admissions (each extremely intoxicated) did one doctor address my drinking habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A month after my release from the institution, after a nearly fatal attempt to end my life, my family gave me a choice: go to treatment for alcoholism or be committed to a long term mental institution. It was an easy decision. I\u2019d go to an inpatient treatment facility and breeze right though the 28 day stay because I didn\u2019t have a drinking problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I walked up to the treatment center door and was asked by a patient, \u201cDo you work here?\u201d That was all the validation I need that I didn\u2019t need to be there. I had a good job, a new car, paid my bills, and provided everything that my son and I needed. True alcoholics can\u2019t hold down a job, I thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It wasn\u2019t long until I realized that indeed, I am an alcoholic! I learned so many things about my disease. I am not a bad person, I didn\u2019t choose to be an alcoholic and I am not a lower class citizen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today I\u2019m not focused on my faults and struggles, I\u2019m focused on my recovery! I have an even better job, a nicer car, healthy relationships and am proud of who I am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It hasn\u2019t been the easiest thing but it is the most important decision I make on a daily basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My name is Carrie K and I\u2019m a person in long-term recovery!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Originally written by Carrie K. Growing up in a small community, people didn\u2019t talk about alcohol abuse. There was a stigma attached to those who the community suspected abused drugs but people rarely mentioned \u201cheavy drinkers\u201d or \u201cdrunks.\u201d I never knew what substance abuse was, what symptoms of alcoholism was or what chemical dependency was. … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_generate-full-width-content":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/morecovery.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5355"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/morecovery.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/morecovery.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morecovery.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morecovery.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5355"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/morecovery.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5356,"href":"https:\/\/morecovery.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5355\/revisions\/5356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/morecovery.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morecovery.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morecovery.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}