09/24/2025
Below is a testimony from someone close to Shelby County who has experienced the depths of Substance Use Disorder and came out on the other side to tell their story of recovery.
"I started using when I was just 13 years old. It began with alcohol and ma*****na, but it quickly escalated to any substance I could get my hands on. There wasnāt a specific reason I startedāI wasnāt trying to escape anything in particularābut the first time I got high, I felt something I had never felt before. I felt free, at ease, and finally comfortable in my own skin. It became the solution to problems I didnāt even realize I had. But over time, that āsolutionā became the biggest problem in my life.
Getting high became my only priority. My thoughts were consumed with how I could stay high, how long the high would last, and how I could use the people around me to make sure I didnāt come down. I lost relationships with people I loved, and I stopped caring about anything that didnāt involve drugs. I didnāt believe there was another way to liveāand honestly, I didnāt want there to be. But a series of events I didnāt plan or expect led me to a treatment facility for adolescents in my area. It was there that I was introduced to something different. For the first time, I saw that there was another pathāand even though I didnāt understand it yet, something in me was willing to try. That willingness became the first step in changing everything.
I have multiple years in recovery, and I am so grateful for the life that I get to live today!"
-Anonymous member of the community who attends meetings and is in active recovery š
Thank you again for sharing your story and being a voice for those who need it or doubt it!!!
