Years: 2012   2011   2010   2009   2008

To date, 36 voices were posted for Recovery Month

Forrest Offord - Submitted 8/29/2012
Today I celebrate seven years of recovery. I love the life I lead today when I thought it was not possible to enjoy life without the use of drugs or other mood altering substances. Recovery is available to anyone who chooses it.
Keywords: celebrate, recovery, drugs, alcohol, substance abuse, mental health

Kelly Kettle - Submitted 8/8/2012
I have been sober long enough - working day in and day out in treatment for almost, 9 years - that, along with my past - gives me, what I believe, a clear perception of the - big picture - when it comes to untreated addiction.
Keywords: drugs, alcohol, family, peers, support, treatment, homeless, recovery, sober, healing, addiction, jail, detox, spirituality

Chanda Robinson - Submitted 7/18/2012
Today, I choose to see challenges as opportunities to grow, so that once I have learned the lesson, I can apply that truth, reap the benefits of living that truth, then share that truth with others.
Keywords: recovery, higher power, faith, criminial justice

Mike Wall - Submitted 7/16/2012
Getting and living well with a nurtured program of recovery is the greatest part of my autobiography I have to offer. I love passing on the old adage of recovery requiring Honesty, Openness, Patience and Effort to have true HOPE!
Keywords: addiction, recovery, support, drug, drugs, alcohol, health

Kevin Ferguson - Submitted 6/18/2012
I am now presently working in the field providing the same support to others that Cumberland afforded me. Commitment, faith, and visualization were my keys to regaining my life back. I used what I had in my hands.
Keywords: sobriety, treatment, recovery, support, addiction, employment, faith

Marc Blackman - Submitted 6/8/2012
I now reach out to other alcoholics and addicts in similar situations. The mind has an incredible ability to heal itself; you just have to let it do so.
Keywords: addiction, alcoholic, family, alcohol, jail, legal, drinking, detox, sobriety, recovery, healing

Ben - Submitted 5/23/2012

Keywords: teenage, alcohol, addiction

Glenn - Submitted 5/23/2012

Keywords: alcohol, marajuana

Hannah - Submitted 5/23/2012

Keywords: long-term recovery, addiction

Mike - Submitted 5/23/2012

Keywords: addiction

Vinnie - Submitted 5/23/2012

Keywords: addiction, pot, alcohol

Kristina - Submitted 5/23/2012

Keywords: addiction, recovery, eating disorder

Eduardo Apodaca - Submitted 5/22/2012
Every day I am thankful for my recovery. I am able to taking care of my overall health through running, eating right and the support of my wife, family and friends who share with me their faith, hope and strength.
Keywords: 

Xavier Virsu - Submitted 5/18/2012
I continue to be committed to recovery because my family is the most important thing in my life. I want to start a new chapter in my life defined by supporting my wife and helping my son grow into adulthood. Medication-assisted recovery has allowed me to go to college and work toward a degree to better support my family. Recovery has given me the chance to accomplish things I never thought were possible.
Keywords: addiction, medication, recovery, family, substance use

Todd Crandell - Submitted 5/18/2012
In the process of rebuilding my life, I realized that I needed something more than traditional recovery programs. I chose the most grueling sport imaginable, the Ironman triathlon, which consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run. I ran my first triathlon in 1999 and have never stopped.
Keywords: drug, drugs, alcohol, family, friends, addiction, substance abuse, recovery, sobriety, health, wellness

Thomas Gilbert - Submitted 5/18/2012
My life has never been better, and this can be a reality for everyone because addiction is a treatable disease and recovery is possible.
Keywords: recovery, treatment, alcoholism, addiction, drug, drugs, drink, alcohol, sobriety, community, treatment

Susan Rogers - Submitted 5/18/2012
In 1975, my family, fearing (with cause) that I was suicidal, brought an outreach team from the local hospital to my apartment.
Keywords: family, mental illness, hospital, treatment, employment, recovery, support

Sarah Rayer - Submitted 5/18/2012
Today I work in recovery advocacy, and I try to help people who are experiencing the suffering I once did. My life today isn’t always easy, but I know that my recovery and the support I have in my life today can carry me through any situation life brings to me.
Keywords: recovery, drink, drinking, alcohol, substance abuse, treatment, peers, sobriety, employment

Sandra Huffman - Submitted 5/18/2012
At age 45, I am a person living a life of long-term recovery. I am no longer a liability to my community, I am an asset.
Keywords: family, addiction, alcohol, alcoholic, alcoholism, jail, legal, sobriety, treatment, community, recovery

Oryx Cohen - Submitted 5/18/2012
The major pieces of my recovery have been peer and family support, sleep, reading literature about recovery, exercise, holistic alternatives, diet, and having meaningful work helping others. Recovery is a very individual process, and some strategies work for some but not others.
Keywords: spirituality, trauma, recovery, peers, family, wellness, health, support, employment

Nemasa Asetra - Submitted 5/18/2012
Plain and simple, medication management and psychotherapy have helped me stay on the path of recovery from my mental health conditions. I’m an aspiring author with an autobiography detailing my mental health issues, and I advocate for the mentally ill. I am now 45 years old and living life to the fullest.
Keywords: mental health condition, mental illness, depression, treatment, recovery, medication, health, wellness

Nancy Bassett - Submitted 5/18/2012
I am a now a respected member of my community, and one day at a time, I work to stay on the path of recovery. Life is good.
Keywords: recovery, substance abuse, drug, drugs, family, treatment, jail, prison, addiction, employment, community

Molly Cisco - Submitted 5/18/2012
I have a full and happy life. I have my friends, my new family, a home, a career, and my dogs. The hole is still there from time to time, but now I know what to do to make it small again.
Keywords: depression, mental illness, treatment, recovery, friends, family, mental disorder

Mike Barry - Submitted 5/18/2012
Each day I continue to work hard on my recovery and love every minute of it. I speak about my experience wherever I can. I share my strength and hope so that others will find inspiration that there is a solution. While sometimes this process helps me more than others, it also reminds me daily of what things were like and who I was, but more importantly, who I’ve become.
Keywords: drink, drinking, alcohol, alcoholism, homeless, family, friends, higher power, faith, spirituality, recovery, sobriety

Martin Miller - Submitted 5/18/2012
Today, thanks to my recovery, I am a valuable, responsible member of society who is an employed, tax-paying voter and involved in my community. I am a man with honor, dignity, integrity, and respect. I am living proof that treatment works and recovery is possible. Each day of recovery, I feel victorious with much gratitude.
Keywords: addiction, drinking, drink, drug, drugs, substance abuse, legal, treatment, jail, recovery

Laurie Dhue - Submitted 5/18/2012
After my anonymity was broken in early 2011, I decided to embrace the opportunity to go public with my battle with alcoholism. My goal then and now is to put a human face on this treatable disease and chip away at the misconceptions that still very much exist in our society. I want to do whatever it takes to increase awareness and educate those who do not understand that this disease affects many American families in one way or another.
Keywords: drink, alcohol, alcoholism, addiction, drinking, treatment, friend, sobriety, support, family

Lauren Spiro - Submitted 5/18/2012
My life has been an unfolding process of searching for my truth and my liberation. A major part of my journey has been looking back with a deeper lens at what happened to me. I was put in a mental institution at age 16 and told that I had an incurable brain disease. The experts, however, were wrong.
Keywords: mental illness, mental disorder, recovery, trauma, employment, community

Ian - Submitted 5/18/2012
I’m 100 percent committed to my recovery. Even though some days are still hard, I know I can make it through the tough times. I now have a good job, a house, and a family. Additionally, I now have something I never thought I could, sobriety and true happiness.
Keywords: sobriety, recovery, addiction, drug, drugs, medication, support, treatment

Frank Ryan - Submitted 5/18/2012
I now have a family, children, and grandchildren who not only love me, but respect me. I’ve had a career for 30 years and have not been fired. I have been able to gain self-respect and the respect of others. Changing my whole life was not easy, but the end result was well worth it.
Keywords: alcoholism, drink, drinking, recovery, family, alcohol, military, homeless, treatment, friends, peers

Eric McDaniel - Submitted 5/18/2012
I have been able to pursue my dream of working in public policy, and I now use my education and experiences in my work as a recovery advocate. I share my recovery with others, and encourage them to speak out about issues that matter to our community. Recovery has given my life new meaning and purpose.
Keywords: recovery, family, alcoholism, drinking, alcohol, depression, mental illness, higher power, faith, addiction, treatment, recovery

Charles Thornton - Submitted 5/18/2012
I now enjoy the love, support, and respect of my family and friends. I have rebuilt my relationship with my high-school sweetheart, and now the same two teenagers who brought a little girl into this world in 1978 are married, responsible adults. I’m active in a spiritual program, and most importantly, support multiple community recovery organizations and volunteer at the Department of Corrections.
Keywords: drug, drugs, alcohol, legal, jail, treatment, recovery, peers, employment, family, friends, spiritual

Adam Deveau - Submitted 5/18/2012
I continue to be committed to my recovery because I love my family, my country, and the compassionate recovery community who has supported me. The moral of my story is that with treatment and counseling I have been able to stay alive, keep my job, earn my bachelor’s degree in philosophy, and pursue happiness.
Keywords: drug, drugs, addiction, substance abuse, treatment, medication, recovery, family, community

Barbara - Submitted 4/20/2012
I have been in recovery for 15 years. I feel everyday is an accomplishment in my sobriety. I am happy and living a fulfilling life as I never experienced during my addiction. I am now working towards my masters of social work degree and will use this education to work with those dealing with mental health issues and addictions.
Keywords: recovery, sobriety, addiction, mental health condition

Lori Dutting - Submitted 3/22/2012
I am learning to trust again and to take risks to make friends. I am learning that loving myself everyday can become a reality. I am learning and growing, and becoming the kind of me I truly want to be. I am a strong, independent and resilient woman who is living in recovery from alcoholism and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Keywords: trauma, drinking, drinking problem, homeless, jail, hospital, treatment, mental illness, mental health condition, mental disorder, depression, medication, housing, recovery

David Loffert - Submitted 1/23/2012
Today, I will continue to advocate for those affected by this disease of addiction. It is a passion and a pathway that I will pursue for the rest of my life.
Keywords: drug addiction, prescription drug, prescription drug addiction, legal, prison, jail, work, homeless, depression, treatment, sobriety, recovery

Sandra Rhea - Submitted 1/18/2012
The word “Hope” jumps out at me against the perfect white smoothness of the stone on which it is inscribed. I hold the rock in my palm and feel it’s smooth weight and ancient promise of longevity. I see the river that rushed endlessly across it. Hope, I think. Yes. It’s what I always tell my students. “You must never, ever give up hope, boys and girls.”
Keywords: trauma, alcohol, alcohol problem, drinking problem, drinking, family, mental health condition, recovery, faith, spirituality, medication