The “No More Shame” Campaign
is designed to empower Recovery.
(learn more here: http://www.pinterest.com/treatmentcenter/nomoreshame/)
*People who have struggled with addiction and are now in Recovery are publicly proclaiming that they are not going to hide anymore.We are not ashamed of our past.
*Families are saying that they are done hiding.
They are going to speak out.
Why?
Basically, to encourage people who are still struggling with addiction to reach out and to encourage families to reach out as well. Everyone involved needs some kind of support and this movement can help.
Each one of us can do our part to chip away at the stigma surrounding addiction so that when people do find the courage to reach out, they can without having so much fear and anxiety of being pushed away.
This hits home for me personally.
I hid my entire life. I covered up- I pretended- I smiled-
I spent all of my energy hiding an addiction and a mental illness that wasn’t even mine.
I went on to hide my own addiction for years.
and I am done hiding.
I know that many would say (many in my own family included)
that addicts isolate themselves, so really it’s their problem.
I would say that in many cases, yes. That is exactly what addicts do.
They manipulate and isolate.
Part of that is shame of who they allowed themselves to become and part of that is not really wanting to hear the truth.
However, there are those who are simply afraid to speak up and are afraid of humiliating themselves or their families.
Families are ashamed to reach out or speak up. They suffer in silence and hide the addict. They follow closely behind the addict, covering up the destruction that is happening inside of their home and hearts.
Addicts are not just the people at the exit ramps holding cardboard signs.
Many are people that you see every day, struggling inside & are hiding in plain sight.
Some, struggle behind closed doors- alone.
The harsh reality is – people who are isolated and ashamed of themselves take their own lives. Many will use until their lives are taken from them.
I had not always been a hot mess. Many judged me and had no idea how I got to that place, nor did they really care. I had been written off as a loser-nonredeemable- fuck up by most people; and I believed it. Of course none of that means anything-because there are thousands of people out there who care, but I know how it feels to believe all of those lies!
I was blessed to have an amazing best friend, boyfriend; now husband who loved me back to life.
I had someone who told me that I was loved, needed and could fight through.
I am so grateful to have had that enduring support, and a backbone when I needed one of my own.
It saddens me to think where I would have been if the right people had not intervened in my life when they did. Without a doubt, I know that God constructed my scenario.
That is why I feel so strongly about loving others despite them not being perfect or living what we would call ‘ideal’ lives.
When I ‘went public’ about my past and my own addiction + recovery…
you would not believe how much support that I received. I could hardly believe it.
I was completely shocked when people started confiding in me about their past, their addiction, or other forms of personal bondage that they have experienced.
Others have shared the struggles that their own sons, daughters or other family members have endured.
Just this week I have had three beautiful, strong and courageous people reach out to me.
I listen to their stories and problems and am so honored to be confided in.
Sometimes, that is all people need; to not feel alone.
We have to got to get to a place where loving people is more important than judging them, categorizing them and dumping them off into some labeled place in our minds that we save for those who we feel aren’t worth our time. God can’t work through us if we are picking and choosing who is worthy of our ‘gifts’ , time or our love.
There is help.
With counseling, modern medicine, therapy, and God’s restoration-
people change.
Sick people can get well.
Families can mend.
Relationships can be restored.
We can make amends.
We can hold our heads high with no regret.
We have experienced something life-changing and powerful.
We are over-comers.
We.Do.Recover.