I was a successful woman in my late-twenties with a beautiful family and a promising future. Never in a million years would I have believed that, in just a short time, I’d become addicted to opiates, fighting for my life. Looking back, a lot went into my downfall...
Looking back, a lot went into my downfall. For one thing, I’d become adept at covering up hurts and heartaches instead of processing them. I was good at maintaining the “everything is ok” façade. It wasn’t. My anxiety and depression were growing under the surface. Losing a child sent me 
downward on a tailspin from which I couldn’t recover.
Afterwards I joined grief support groups. I was surrounded by people, yet I felt totally alone. They really did know what I was going through, but I felt as if no one understood my pain. Everyone seemed to be moving forward. I was stuck.
At a real low point, chronic back pain and a prescription for pain-killers opened a deadly door.
I want you to know, I was as baffled as everyone around me: How could I have let this happen? I’d lost control of my life. Addiction was now in control. Prescription pain medicines gave way to intravenous heroin…as I said, not many live to tell this tale.
I had been to every rehab in the state, some more than once. But I couldn’t string together thirty days of sobriety to save my life.
I felt I owed it to my kids to try one more time, so that I could check out of this life knowing that I tried the hardest that I could. That’s when I came to the Brattleboro Retreat.
The team at the Retreat helped me dig deep. A lot of my treatment involved identifying and addressing underlying issues. The Retreat helped me to recognize and develop the psychological and emotional tools I’d need to address my addiction and those things which contributed to it. I’m not exaggerating at all when I say, it was life-saving. I’m writing today to ask—Would you please join me in supporting the Retreat? Thanks to people like you, the Brattleboro Retreat was there for me.
Here’s the thing—you’ve seen the news—opioid addiction is a huge issue right now across the nation. The Brattleboro Retreat is on the front-line of the addiction crisis, leading in a crucial area of the epidemic. Now is the time to act. The Retreat’s treatment teams help people who struggle with a variety of mental health issues.
Whether wrestling with a mental illness like depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, PTSD and more, or battling an addiction, I can tell you from experience that many are suffering silently and alone. It doesn’t need to be that way. There is help available—and you can help make it possible. I’m very grateful. The Brattleboro Retreat and people like you—through compassion and generosity—helped save my life.
I recently celebrated seven years of sobriety. Friends like you and the experienced team of doctors, therapists, and staff at the Retreat have offered me this new lease on life. Please consider supporting this life-changing work. Thank you.
Warmest regards,
Raina Lowell
Montpelier, Vermont
