My name is Scott. I’m 31, from upstate NY. My sobriety date is 03/14/2019.

I grew up the youngest of 4 in an upper-middle-class family.

Childhood was a bit different. When I was four, my dad worked and traveled to provide. My mom was gone caring for a sibling with brain cancer. I didn’t have any friends or a relationship with my siblings.

I began drinking at 13 to cope with being sexually abused by a family friend. It lasted from 5th grade until junior year. I blamed myself and hated myself. It snowballed into drinking every day. I took anything I could get my hands on.

Then coke entered my life. Which just made everything worse than it was. I was kicked out of college and couldn’t hold a job. Many attempts at AA and rehabs. Jail time. A few near-death experiences. Car accidents. I was just drifting around.

I was on a never-ending bender. The turning point for me was on 3/13/2019. I finished a 30 rack in tears wanting it all to end. I couldn’t do it anymore. It was either death or life. I woke up the next day. Somehow I chose to live. I never picked up a drink or substance again after that.

I attend trauma therapy twice weekly to better understand myself and my struggles with PTSD, anxiety, depression, and bipolar. I try to spend as much time outdoors hiking and reading. I try to help as many people as I can who are also struggling. Keep Going!