A Journey Through Stigma: My Story Again

While we are on the topic of mental health and addiction stigma this week, I realized today that I have another personal story to share.

I was in recovery from meth use for a long time when I got pregnant with my daughter in 2011. While I was pregnant, of course, I had to fill out a packet of information about previous pregnancies, family structure, medical issues, and even ask about last substance use.

I lived in upstate New York while stationed at the Ft. Drum Army base. The biggest lesson I took away from being forced to get sober and hesitantly changing my life was honesty. There was no reason to ever be dishonest at this point in my life. I learned it is better to tell the truth even when it is ugly and embarrassing than to lie and have it come out in a more embarrassing way later. My unofficial motto after having to admit the truth of my addiction was to “eat the humble pie.”

The Downside Of Complete Honesty

So, with the best of intentions, I filled out this pregnancy packet and told the entire truth because, at this point, even though it was sober, I felt like it was relevant that I be completely truthful for medical reasons. At the time, it seemed to make sense. I turned in the packet and didn’t think about it.