My Personal Journey To Recovery

My name is Vanessa and I am a recovering alcoholic. I am 29 years old.  I am a mother, wife, daughter, friend and co-worker. I know firsthand the stigma attached to being female and an alcoholic. Women can be better at hiding their struggles. No matter how stressed out or overwhelmed we feel we have perfected the art of smiling on the outside, while falling apart on the inside. I cannot tell you how many times I have cried in the shower, my car or at work in a bathroom stall. I am writing this not because I want anyone to feel sorry for me, but because I have finally come to terms with the fact that acting like a child for 28 years nearly killed me. There is a quote that I have written on the first page of my journal and I read it everyday as a reminder of how far I have come: “The longer I am sober, the drunker I was.”