Sherry

Sherry’s patterns of abuse began as a child. Her stepfather gave her drugs, regularly molested her and raped her at gun point. She quickly learned to disassociate her mind from her body and realized that alcohol made it so she didn’t have to feel anything.

By the time she was 30, she resorted to prostitution to pay for her daily crystal meth habit which resulted in countless physically and sexually abusive situations. She had little self worth, was hopeless and frequently became suicidal when she used. She tearfully shares stories of hoping she would die of an overdose. She recalls “cutting herself from ear to ear” after being told she was pretty. She adds, “I tried to drown myself in a pool and when that didn’t work, I locked myself in the bathroom and slit my wrists.”

Sherry had bouts of sobriety over the years, but the unresolved issues and demons from her past haunted her and she repeated her destructive patterns as life continued to deal her the unthinkable. Her boyfriend beat her regularly sending her to the hospital. She was raped, received a DUI and was diagnosed with cancer – a burden she ignored and hid from her family. She then found her brother dead of an overdose.

Concerned for her daughter’s life, Sherry’s mother referred her to the Crisis Stabilization Unit where she was stabilized and assigned a case manager to coordinate her treatment plan designed to address her complex mental health and substance use problems. She was referred to detox, residential and outpatient substance use treatment, psychiatric medical services and medical care for her poor physical health.

She has been sober for five months, regularly attends 12-steps meetings and continues outpatient mental health treatment. She adds, “My experience with DLC has been life altering. God put me in DLC’s care when I couldn’t take care of myself and everyone came through for me. They never stopped believing in me. DLC saved my life.”

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