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Monday, June 2, 2014

Hell and Back

ADD/ADHD has taken me to hell and back. I was diagnosed with ADD (there was no such thing as ADHD yet) in third grade and put on Ritalin. Teachers could not figure out why I was acting up and still completing all of my school work. I was tested and found to be very intelligent. I was put in honors classes to give me a more challenging work load. This new change helped stimulate my mind, but was a failure for my social life. Honors students took a bus to another school to have class together and that made us stand out to our peers and they made fun of us.
My parents divorced when I was Twelve years old. I quickly found something that could make me forget about all my worries. Alcohol slowed the world and my thoughts down. I was an addicted to alcohol by the age of thirteen. I started with alcohol and by the age of sixteen, I progressed to using cocaine. By the age of eighteen, I was living in a crack house selling drugs to support my habit!
When I was twenty-two years old I tried desperately to fit in, but I was hooked on cocaine and alcohol and could not focus. I wanted help, but I did not know how to get it. I kept doing what I knew best and that was to get drunk and high. One night after partying with my friends; I was dropped off at home and in a black out ended up on a hill that surrounded my apartment complex. I rolled to the bottom, flopping off a retaining wall and smashing my head on the pavement. I was rushed to the hospital and had a right frontal craniotomy. After the surgery I stayed in a comatose state for several weeks.



When I woke up from the coma and was able to eat again. I was placed in a nursing home to live out the rest of my days. I was mad and angry about my new surroundings and was the youngest person in the facility. I was devastated about what I did to myself and did not know how to express my feelings. With determination, hard work, and focus, I left the nursing home and my wheelchair for a walker and eventually a cane. After three years of therapy I was walking with no assistive device.

In the fifteen years since my accident I have been able to walk, talk, and drive again. I went to college and earned an undergraduate degree in Psychology and graduate degree in Counseling and Psychology. I retrained my brain to channel my ADHD into positivity. I found how to keep moving forward and not look back!
I am a Behavior Therapist and a Certified Professional Coach that has dedicated my life to helping others who have experienced trauma, injury or addiction. I now have over fifteen years clean and sober!


Join Rick at  Rejuvenate Life Coaching and learn more about him from his Biography

3 comments:

  1. its scary how very similar my story is to yours... almost exactly the same , i stayed in a wheelchair for a yr. after my accident.im now a member of 3 groups and writting my book. alisashammond@gmail.com

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    1. Would you like to share your story and promote your book on this page? Message me if you are interested lles86@hotmail.com

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  2. 3rd Survivor it sounds like you're doing great! It is your time to shine! Keep moving forward and don't look back!

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