Self-medication is rarely about getting high — it is about getting relief. This sardonic reflection explores trauma, addiction, avoidance, and society’s obsession with feeling better immediately instead of actually healing.
Three Years Later
Three years after my husband’s suicide, I reflect on grief, unhealthy relationships, self-medication, and the uncomfortable truth that healing is not the same as romanticizing the past. Sometimes survival means accepting that there will never be perfect answers — only the choice to keep moving forward.
Survival Mode Was Never Meant to Be Permanent
Long-term trauma changes the body as much as the mind. A reflection on hypervigilance, chronic stress, and the exhausting reality of living in permanent survival mode.
Acceptable Addictions
Society only condemns self-medication selectively. Some addictions are labeled destructive, while others are praised as ambition, discipline, or devotion. A sardonic reflection on coping mechanisms, trauma, and the addictions that “photograph well.”