True Stories of Addiction: Jessica
Jessica had a lot of traumatizing things happen to her before she found drinking and drugs as a way to escape. She was never the type to drink during high school or go wild at parties. She could keep her cool and not abuse Alcohol when she did decide to have a drink with a friend. There were no early signs of addiction for Jessica, it was the constant trauma she went through that made her give up and turn to Alcohol.
At 19 years old, shortly after high school, Jasmine learned she was pregnant with a beautiful baby girl. Her and her boyfriend were more than excited to be bringing a life into the world. The pregnancy was going great and she went into labor at 38 weeks pregnant. In the hospital, there were no signs of complications but her daughter, Payton, ended up coming into the world as a still birth. Jessica had no idea to cope with the loss of her baby girl but ended up fighting through the pain.
When she turned 21 years old, she had a flash back of her biological father molesting her when she was very young. The flash back destroyed her but didn’t bring her to drinking and drugs. Shortly after she found out about her biological father, she got the news she was carrying twins. However, at 11 weeks pregnant, one of her babies had died in the womb. She was devastated but was able to hold it together for her son that survived the pregnancy.
Here Came the Addiction
Being 21 years old with a child was very difficult for Jessica and her boyfriend financially. She knew she needed to do something for a steady income and decided to go to a strip club so she can support her family. When she started dancing, she realized a lot of the woman there drank because it made them loosen up, so Jessica gave it a try. Jessica wouldn’t just have one to two drinks though, she would drink to the point where she couldn’t tell if what she was drinking was water or vodka.
This went on until she found out she was pregnant with her second child. She sobered up the whole pregnancy and got pregnant again with her third child. After giving birth to her beautiful babies, Jessica got a new job where she met a man named Daniel. She ended up drinking a lot with Daniel and decided to leave her husband and children to be with him. A few years later, she was in a car accident and was prescribed Opiates for the pain. The Opiates ended up taking control of her life and she would go from doctor to doctor to get more meds.
The doctors started catching on to Jessica and stopped prescribing her medication. She still needed an escape and found it in the Cocaine Daniel introduced to her. Her life spiraled out of control and things got really bad. Jessica realized she had a problem when her husband took her to court to fight for the custody of her children. The judge told Jessica that if she gets treatment, she will still have her kids when she gets out but if she decides to keep using, she will lose her children for good.
Fighting Addiction with Treatment
Jessica immediately found treatment because she did not want to lose her kids. She went into a 30-day inpatient rehabilitation program and came out clean with no intention of using. She moved back in with her husband and children and life was good. After a few months, Jessica got reconnected with Daniel and shortly after she relapsed on Cocaine.
After her relapse, she moved out of her husband’s house and left the kids to go use drugs. She was staying with another alcoholic friend and the insanity of addiction took her life again. After about a month of using, Jessica went back to treatment and knew this had to be it. She was done living the way she was living and was finally ready for change and wanted to be a mother to her children.
Jessica moved away from all the negativity in her life and has stayed clean since. She has a great job and never lost custody of her children. She works a 12-step program and is living her life to the fullest. She knows there is nothing positive drugs and Alcohol will do for her. Her life has never been better and encourages everyone who has a problem to reach out and ask for help.
