Insight From a Former Drinker
We all get started from uniquely different backgrounds, experiences, and traumas. Coping mechanisms and defenses develop from an early age to protect us and allow for our survival. Oftentimes, these can mutate into something that haunts us as we grow up, and unfortunately, we can carry these wounds of our pasts into our future relationships and interactions with the world.
The dynamics of my upbringing forced a sense of early adulthood and an overarching necessity to care for others in a way that often harmed me. This tendency morphed into over-parentification and eventually led to my early addiction to alcohol, substances, and people. I took hostages along my journey but held myself the most captive.
At my physical and emotional bottom, an untenable level of despair led me to finally ask for help. This step, though brutally painful, was life changing. I began on my journey to self-discovery, acceptance, and a dedication to understanding my ability to change my behaviors and patterns in life. With the gentle assistance of many (including professionals), I dedicated myself to staying abstinent from substances and alcohol. Once I was relieved of my obsession to use substances, I finally had the capacity to begin the work healing the triggers and traumas of my past and restructuring the dynamics of how I related to myself and others.
Now that you’ve decided to seek help, you will need to summon the bravery to look deeper within yourself for answers, so that you can balance and build healthy relationships in your life. I believe that you have your own story to tell, and that the help of a trusted person or team, can assist you in finding that voice, and give name to your hidden truths so you can become the person you’ve always meant to be.