If anything shows the grim effects of heroin addiction it’s this.
But the powerful ‘before’ and ‘after’ shots shared by a former addict also show what a difference going clean can make.
The ex-addict wanted to share the photos of herself both in the grip of heroin addiction and now she is clean as a message of hope to other addicts still hooked on the drug that recovery is possible.
The woman, who did not reveal her name, has been clean for 826 days now and she has her life back, according to the post on Reddit.
Her ‘before’ shot was a police mugshot from June 2014 where she looks ill, exhausted and her face is covered in scabs.
Image via DisregardThisOrDont/Reddit
Now two years on she is barely recognisable from the woman in the harrowing police photo and she looks a picture of health.
Redditor DisregardThisOrDont explained she went to jail for 36 days on a contempt charge around when the first photo was taken.
She explained:
‘Without delving too deep I’ll just say that I was in a really abusive relationship that led to my daughter going to live with my mother.
‘She is my whole world, so when that happened I fell into a deep depression and leaned to my abusive boyfriend for emotional support. His answer to making me feel better was heroin.
‘After 8 months of daily use and a few half assed attempts at getting clean, I told the judge presiding over the guardianship case of my daughter that I had been using and that I needed help.
‘He found me in contempt of court and put me in the county jail until he could find me a bed in a rehab. From there I went to the best rehab in my state.
‘Recovery has been an uphill battle, but now I am at a point where it all just feels like a bad dream.’
Image via DisregardThisOrDont/Reddit
The woman, who has recently had another daughter, wanted to share her story to help give other addicts hope.
It was when she came across the police mugshot that she decided to speak out and tell her story and since then she has received hundreds of messages of support.
‘I felt the need to share it so openly because when I found my mugshot I felt so bad for that girl. I wanted to hug her and tell her it will get better. I then realized that girl is still out there somewhere.
‘She isn’t me anymore though. There are other addicts out there who are in the same circle of hell that I was in in that mug shot. So even if one of those people see this and get their shit together, then it was worth it.’
Fair play to her.