I was born in Utah and raised as a Mormon. It is a very controlling high-demand religion. About 2 years ago, I left the church. I stopped going to church, stopped paying them 10% of my income, and stopped following their rules.

However, even if you stop attending church, even if you stop acting like a Mormon, they still keep records of you until you officially resign. They count you when they are inflating the numbers of their members. Bishops and members of the ward (equivalent of a congregation) will still contact you. They make it as difficult as they can for a person to leave. Most people who choose to officially leave the church have to get lawyers involved. So many ex-mormons remain Mormons on paper.

Luckily, there is a group of lawyers in Utah who help people leave the church pro bono. About 2 months ago I filled out the forms they needed me to, got the necessary papers notarized, and submitted an official resignation through them. 2 days ago, I got a confirmation email that my resignation was complete. Now, even on paper, I am no longer a member of that dishonest, money-loving, homophobic, transphobic, racist organization.

That's right everyone, I just went to my first appointment for gender-affirming healthcare and I have officially been prescribed testosterone!

I'm an adult still living in my parents' home and they have just been begging me not to transition and pulling out every transphobic statement they can in the process, which has been both unexpected and very distressing, to say the least.

I made the choice to disappoint them so that I didn't disappoint myself, and that decision makes me feel more like a man than the testosterone ever will, to be honest.

I am so happy and excited to continue this journey and I invite you to celebrate with me!

No cigs, no patch, no gum. First time in 20 years. I'm a mess. Everything hurts. I don't think I'm gonna manage. But still. Yay me, I guess.

This is the longest I have been off any opiate for 16 years, without any maintenance medications like suboxone or methadone to help me along the way. I decided to no longer use the maintenance medications as the withdrawal from them were even worse than the drugs themselves, and always ended up in a relapse for me. When I was younger I would see people on tv waking up ready for the day happy, then I would see me, waking up dopesick either looking to get high or clamoring for my suboxone, I wanted what those fictional people had but thought it was impossible. I have it now and will always do my best to not take it for granted! I’m not a part of any 12 step program, so I wanted to share with someone. Thanks for reading!

I previously had a building career in finance, had a lower level qualification in accounting and was under constant pressure to keep aiming higher and higher. This destroyed my mental health and coupled with my social anxiety & complete inability to fit in socially in corporate environments and navigate the "office politics", I was coming home in tears most days and wishing I'd never gone in to this line of work in the first place.

I quit after having my daughter and have been out of work until recently. I finally feel ready to re-enter the workforce and have found a job as a part time cleaner! (With a surprisingly decent salary!)

I just need somewhere to get excited about this as my very middle-class, well-to-do Dad's side of the family have made it clear that my choice of new job is embarrassing.

I'm done putting money/status/job titles as the highest priority and my mental health is going to come first going forwards. I'll be able to work a couple hours each day, and then come home stress free and still have the mental energy to be a present, happy & healthy parent to my daughter 🎉

I don’t have contact with my family so I’m coming here for validation- I’m officially 6 years clean from heroin and meth.. and just about anything else I could get ahold of. Including alcohol. I have a panic disorder so it sucks not being able to take benzos for it but I’m doing okay. I’ve got two kids, a wonderful marriage, and I turn 28 tomorrow. I never thought I’d make it this far! 🩵 I have a boatload of trauma but therapy and meds help ◡̈

Two years ago I had planned to end my life. I was a raging alcoholic and extremely symptomatic with my ptsd and depression. Couldn’t take care of myself much less hold a job. Became homeless and had to get my cats fostered

I turned 27 today. Got up, brushed my teeth, fed my cat and went to work.

I’m just really grateful I stuck it out. Nobody has said happy birthday to me and there’s only 2hrs left in the day, but im pretty happy about making it another year and that’s all that matters. So much has changed for me in the past year alone… I went from homeless to having my own apartment again with my first ever porch and backyard.

It’s indeed a happy birthday for me :)

After about 4 years of racking up almost $10,000 in credit card debt with a unhealthy relationship with shopping, I made a final payment today and have $0 balance on all my credit cards! It feels surreal and I am so glad to have learned better spending and budgeting habits. Now when I splurge, I make sure I can afford it and that it’s worth me spending money on it.

So I was on Prozac and it was the wrong medication for me. I became so depressed that I was having thoughts of not being here anymore. Instead of acting on them, I went to the hospital to get help. I'm finally on the right medication and I feel like I have the right diagnosis. I was diagnosed with bipolar one and I feel like I'm on the right medication. I'm still a little manic but it's helping. I've only been on it for a couple of weeks.

I'm just proud of myself that I prioritized myself and my health. This is not to say that anyone who is depressed or anyone who acts on it, well I'm saying I'm not criticizing them. I'm just speaking from my personal experience. I want to say that if anyone needs support, I'm here to listen. I know where you are. I just wanted to share that. Please don't be afraid to ask for help. You're not weak for doing so. You are loved and you are here for a reason. Thank you for letting me share.

I've been smoking weed since 18 and just started cigarettes in April. I realized I don't need to smoke to be happy and I stopped. I do miss weed but honestly I kept attracting the wrong company while smoking it, so I'm done ✅🙂

Just as a kind of overview of what I mean by toxic: i was with this guy for a little over a year and a half. He was rude and belittling, he cheated on me early on, and he only worked for 5 months during that time. We lived in New Mexico for the last year, and he had a job for the first month and the last month while we were there. The rest of the time he was sitting at home, playing video games, and being generally unproductive. Nevertheless, we broke up when I quit my job, and I drove him NOT ONLY all the way home to South Carolina, but I even drove all the way down to Huntsville Texas so he could meet his online friend for the first time. I paid for hotel rooms so he wouldn't have to sleep in the car, I paid for all the gas, and I gave him $200 when I dropped him off because I figured that was probably about what his check from working that last month would have been.

He complained the entire way there, and when I got home he texted me all angrily because I wasn't checking my bank account to make absolutely sure I gave him all the money he made in his one month of work. It was a $100 dollar difference.

I'm a guy btw

Without refined or processed sugar. I miss fancy pastries. lol

Title. Yes I disposed of it safely. I’ve been trying to get clean for years and I think now with no blade I’m really going to get somewhere ❤️

I (29) started anti-depressants and anxiety meds about 2 weeks ago. First week was Very Rough. But last night, I was playing Among Us with a group of friends and one of them said something silly and we all started cracking up. This banter/poking fun got us all laughing so hard, and I starting crying from laughing so hard. I cannot remember the last time that I laughed until I cried. I can’t really remember the last time that I genuinely had the laughs where you feel it in your whole body and your face hurts afterwards. I don’t remember the last time that I had a feeling that was so positive and genuine. I didn’t have to think about how much everyone else was laughing and how energetic I need to be to match the vibes. Instead, I was able to just be a part of it.

I know that there will still be some rough times (this morning for example), but I am going to hold onto that joy and hope from last night as proof that things are taking a turn for the better.

::Edit:: Wow you all! Thank you so much for your positivity and support. I will do my best to reply to everyone. 💜

I was smoking so much everyday, and I finally picked up and quit about 5 months ago and life is going great for me. I’m so much happier, I am actually getting my schoolwork done and enjoying learning! I’ve picked up hobbies and a job, made some new friends, and I talk to my family way more often. I don’t sleep all day and I am eating so much better, my life seems to be going so well since I quit. I never believed I could do it, but here I am, taking it one day at a time, and I don’t plan to ever go back ❤️❤️ I’m so proud of myself!!

I always used to HATE the feeling of toothpaste in my mouth, but I forced myself to start using it daily a while back when a girl in my theatre group was romantically interested in me and I was worried she’d think my mouth was gross when we kissed lol.

The relationship didn’t happen but I got a good habit out of it that will probably save me thousands of dollars in dental care!

I measured myself for new pants a couple days ago and realized that I’ve been wearing underwear several sizes too big for literal years!!

So I found some that actually fit and OMG why does no one talk about how much of a difference this makes?

People with dude parts, double check that your underwear fits. A well fitted, supportive set of undies can change your life.

It's been a rough month or so since I quit watching porn, but I'm starting to get used to it. Actually I thought it would be even harder.

It's been tough to stay motivated, espacially since i've been quarantined for the last few weeks - boredom is a bitch. Also, porn is a taboo where I live, so I couldn't barely share my feelings with anybody (except for some close friends) - wich made it even harder for me to stay motivated.

I'm actually very very proud of myself because of my persistence and motivation.

Thank you so much everyone for your kind words, and for everyone who donated an award! ❤️ It's all very much appreciated!

Ive been doing everything possible to not think about it during these last few months when I didnt have health insurance.

It’s been a relief to finally tell someone. Not in like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders but more like I admitted it and now I have to address it and feel all the emotions around that diagnosis.

I have to talk about it with my therapist today, I’m already drained and want to just stay in bed.

I dont want to go to work and take things out of context any longer. I hate effecting ppl negativity. I fucking haaaaaaate seeing/hearing things. Hearing things is by far the worst - at least the things I see are mostly easy to determine they’re not there. Mostly. Hearing things freaks me the fuck out.

But I’m still here, I didnt kill myself all those times I had the plan, I’m addressing my issues.

I’m going to be so upset if I find more of my life wasnt real. But, hopefully, if we’re getting this early, we can stop some of the progression. But Im not sure if that’s how schizophrenia works....

I’ll figure it out. I’m here for it.

I mainly did this my downloading a habit tracking app. I won't mention it because I don't want this to come across as advertising but if you pm me I'll tell which specific one I used.

The main focus was to check my habits every morning and every night. This was helpful because some nights I would initially forget to floss but when I checked my habits before bed I could quickly fix a couple of the ones I missed.

I normally wouldn't make a post like this about the struggle I've had with substance abuse over the last 7 years, but I just realized how well I'm doing and I feel like I deserve a little pat on the back. After all, every challenge that someone goes through should be rewarded or acknowledged in a positive way!

I'm 28(f) and I live in Las Vegas. I've been on heroin since I was 21. Well technically, both meth and heroin, but I've always been able to quit using this whenever I wanted.

Harold was always a huge problem for me from the moment I tried it. The main reason I tried it the first place was because I was hanging out with my best friend's boyfriend. We were shopping for her birthday present and his best friend tagged along. Well we were at a hotel on the strip because his friend worked at one of those shops. But they wanted us to stick away so they could smoke something. So we did and I was watching them smoke. I knew what they were doing because I was told ahead of time that they were both on heroin. All of a sudden my best friend's boyfriend's best friend offered to let me try it. I told him no, but lack of a lie I had a huge crush on him at the time and it was really hard to resist. A few minutes later he decided to ask me again if I wanted to try it, and I figured that my best friend's boyfriend would take care of me if I wasn't okay after trying it for the first time. After all, we were smoking it versus IV use so I knew my chances of overdosing were really slim. After that I just started using it a lot. Apparently my best friend's boyfriend asked his friend why he would offer me, and his best friend told him that he purposely wanted me to get addicted to it. He do that I lived one apartment building over from his, and he thought that if I was addicted to heroin, I would help him every time he was sick.

Even after all this time that I have been on it, I still can't believe that someone would be that selfish and okay with ruining somebody else's life.

Anyways; about 6 months ago, I was doing about a dub (.20) per shot. I noticed how high of my tolerance was, and decided to slowly ween myself off it. So far, I now do 1/4th the amount that I was doing back then (.05). I still plan on dropping it lower and lower, but honestly I'm really surprised that I was able to reduce the amount that dramatically within such a short period of time.

I've always talked about wanting to quit before, but it was more of being willing to quit because I knew everybody else wanted me to quit for myself. I honestly didn't want to quit yet though. And you could go to rehab or try music medications like Methadone and Subutex to get off it, but if you truly don't want to quit, it's highly unlikely that you'll be able to do it. That's why I gave up attempting to go to rehab or using Methadone again until I knew I was sick of it and actually genuinely wanted to stop using it. It also helps a lot knowing that even though my roommate doesn't use any drugs at all, he doesn't bother me and in pressure me to try quitting. He has not woods actually mentioned wanting me to quit. He said as long as I'm still taking care of what I have to do, he won't have a problem with it.

I hope one day soon I could come back here and make a post about how I haven't used at all. Sorry for the long rant and side chatter. I have a bad habit of dragging on what I'm trying to say lol.

Haven’t been totally sober for more than a few weeks since I was a teenager. I’m almost 31 now. Enjoying sobriety and all the positive changes I’m seeing in myself and my life, it’s so worth it! Next stop, 100!

I'm really self conscious and anxious so I don't really go outside but today I finally did. For a walk. First time in 3 weeks. It was nice. A little scary cause it felt like people were looking at me and judging me but I think that's just in my head.