- Alcohol
- Drugs
- Mental Health
Submitted by: Susanne Johnson
Brandon lives in beautiful and sunny California. All that sunshine did not spare him from suffering severe depression. He abused marijuana and alcohol to cope with his feelings and reached a point in his life where he was close to a suicide attempt. That was not how his story was meant to end, and he reached out for help and got into treatment for co-occurring disorders.
Today he has 160 days of living clean and sober. After treatment he stayed in a sober living community. The depression got a lot better, and he feels very relieved about that every day. He had to learn that life can be better when you are not getting loaded on something every day. He describes having moments of true happiness as the biggest positive change in his life so far.
He struggles with adversity at times, but he has learned to overcome any struggles by not letting the negative thoughts getting him down. Brandon feels so satisfied today that he is no longer depressed and sad all the time. “One day at a time,” is his motto and the advice he would like to share with others. With a smile on his face, he says, “You don’t have to live that way anymore.”