Brian:
I got injured while I was there, like shrapnel or a gunshot wound, but I had injured my back and my knee, and then when I got back, I started like getting my hands on pain pills and stuff. I was drinking a lot.
Rick:
As I got out of the service, of course, then I started finding barbiturates and opioids.
Mario:
I was going through a horrible marriage at the time. I was only 18. Then I started drinking with Percocets.
David:
I knew I was in no condition to go back to work. I was withdrawing from opiates, from pain pills. I was around someone that had heroin, so I started smoking it. You have to, you know, submit to the fact that you have an addiction.
Jenny:
Before I got mental health treatment, I dealt with my PTSD and MST by drinking and shooting heroin. This is not the life I want.
Kelly:
By the time I realize I'm addicted to my pills, my brain understands that, my body won't let me stop. The withdrawals were like unexplainable. I wanted to peel myself out of my skin. The focus that the VA has now is spot-on. That's how I got my life back on track.
Brian:
Instead of just like one moment of clarity, it's like walking out of this haze. The longer it goes, the more good you see in your life, and how truly full that it is.
Rick:
There was one-on-one therapy involved, there was CBT, of course, there was writing therapy, and we found that there was a great meditation in all of it. It's transformative, you know, and it's peace-bringing.
Jenny:
And then I just kept trying all the things. I was like, "Okay, there's an answer out there." The better I started to feel, the more I wanted people to learn what I was learning. Happiness is accessible.
Brian:
What happened to me wasn't normal, and telling someone that wasn't a burden, that was my first session. You're gonna go hills and valleys, but as long as you're moving in the right direction, it's worth it.
Rick:
My entire life, up until about five years ago was a series of very chaotic mistakes that somehow went right, but the end result of that was recovery.
Mario:
I don't want another Veteran to go through what I went through when there's a way out.
