From a Broken Family to a Caring Family...how Interlude has changed my life. by Debbie C.

Hi, my name is Debbie and I’m 43 years old. I have Bi-polar disorder, Dissociative Identity Disorder, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), [which are all treatable mental illnesses.]

Mental illness runs in my family. My father and his mother had major illnesses. My father could be very paranoid and was extremely abusive to me and my brothers and sisters. I lived in a constant state of confusion and fear. The school system also was afraid of my parents and put my brother and me in special education classes even though we were not mentally disabled. This and other forms of emotional trauma followed me throughout my childhood.

At age 21 I was admitted to a hospital psychiatry ward for the first time. I was anorexic. I was cutting and refusing to go back to my parents’ home. I was in the hospital for four months and ironically for the first time, feeling some sense of safety.

The hospital staff worked with Interlude’s staff and helped me get admitted to their program. I came to Interlude in 1992. On my first day at Interlude I was scared and crying in my new room, but the staff kept coming in to talk or just let me know this was a safe place. Eventually, I came to love Interlude. There have been many changes at Interlude but all along staff have been there for me, and an example to me of what healthy relationships are supposed to be.

Interlude has gone out of its way to get me the treatment I needed, including for my eating disorder and my trauma issues. In May, 2008 I went to Florida for a special trauma program. This would not have happened if it wasn’t for Interlude. I may have been here 17 years, but they have not given up on me yet. I also have a lot of emotional hurts and pains and I know that staff don’t just believe me – I know they feel it.

But Interlude staff don’t dwell on the negatives in my life, instead they talk about the good things in my life and the progress I’ve made, and I need to hear that. I need this reminder because I can sink into despair so easily. It’s a daily struggle for me to ignore the dark cloud that follows everywhere I go. Without Interlude I would be alone, and I am sometimes afraid I’d end up homeless, which is where I was 17 years ago.

There really are no words to describe all that Interlude has been to me - a healthy parent, a teacher, a listening ear, a friend, and more. I don’t ever want to go back to a life of fear, pain, and confusion. Interlude helps me bear the struggles in my life, and move on.