Lost and Lived In

This memoir started as my personal journal full of desperation to make sense of what I was going through. I began writing as depression and OCD/anxiety made home of my mind. In my attempts to cope I also developed anorexia alcoholism and trauma from sexual assaults. For about ten years I lost myself to these struggles. A couple of relapses and time spent in treatment began the difficult road to recovery.. As I started to understand the complex web of mental illness inside me I gained the words I was searching for to build a much-needed bridge. Mental illness can touch anyone even the most untouchable seemingly normal lives. Although we don’t all experience mental illness in the exact same ways unfortunately it’s often still a familiar darkness that’s misunderstood by the rest of the world. I expanded my writing into a book that could build the bridge of understanding conversations support and hope from loved ones to those struggling.. This is the full tour inside my mind as I experienced the darkest times of my life. It’s not a glorified drama of my struggles. It’s the raw most honest and unfiltered version of those years my time in treatment and a realistically messy recovery. I hope to be a voice for many a reference for loved ones and a glimpse of the light for everybody involved. It does get better and it’s worth the fight.. *Trigger warnings are included at the beginning of each difficult topic.*