At night, tucking my kids into bed, I would make a deal with myself: hold on just a little longer until they needed me a little less and then I could go through with my suicide plan.
Tag: family
How I Found My Mother Through Forgiveness
I realized that in order to change my family’s lineage I would not only have to forgive everyone who ever hurt me, I would have to learn to forgive myself.
"Little Woods" Explores Family Bonds, Poverty, and Opioids in Small-Town America
“I hadn’t set out to make a political film but my personal point of view about what’s happening right now is horrifying. I mean whatever way we’re dealing with the opiate crisis, it isn’t working.”
Dear Daddy, Why Didn't You Protect Me?
Instead of worrying about being attacked by some random person on the street, I lived with my attacker 365 days a year.
When Love Is Not Enough: How We All Failed My Sister
These are the ugly, dark parts of mental illness and drug addiction that no one talks about, and by not talking about it, it stays hidden, and shameful, and powerful, and deadly.
Zero Coping Skills: How Jackie Monahan Found Peace of Mind for the First Time
Contrast in life is inevitable, but I’m learning that I don’t have to have conflict. I don’t have to flip out because I got in the wrong line; I don’t need to make my poor planning everyone else’s emergency.
Today I Celebrate My Brother's Suicide
My brother passed away from suicide seven years ago today. Without realizing it, he taught me that you never know what someone else may be going through, so I try to be kind.
How To Love Yourself the Way You Love Your Addicted Child
Our mission in life became to fix our son, get his life on track, keep him safe, and stop the madness. We became addicted to fixing our addict. In the meantime, my life was circling the proverbial drain and it was all my son’s fault… or was it?
For My Mother, Putting Down the Alcohol Wasn't Enough
As an adult, I struggled to reconcile how my mother could be bone sober but still function like the manipulative, bewildering, and self-absorbed alcoholic I sat next to in all those corner bars as a kid.
6 Things Everyone Should Know About Children in Families with Mental Illness
We don’t talk enough about the children who live with, and rely on, a family member with a mental illness. What sort of support do they need and how can we provide it?