End the Stigma

End The Stigma

Faces of Recovery: Megan Lathrop

Editor's Note: Since 2011, October has been proclaimed National Substance Abuse Prevention Month. This month, Cloud Peak Counseling Center, in partnership with the Northern Wyoming News, is bringing four stories of recovery from Worland community members.

Meet Megan Lathrop, an addiction recovery warrior.

Megan started her journey into darkness at the age of 11, when she was introduced to alcohol and marijuana. Megan was living in California, "doing what everyone else was doing." Megan spent time with peers who were using substances and stated, "I saw the adults around me drinking or doing drugs to cope with life."

Her use started out mostly on weekends; however, by the age of 15 she was using marijuana daily. By the age of 16, she started "experimenting with pills" (opiates), and by the age of 20, she stated, "I was really addicted to pain pills." She spent a lot of her time finding a way to get those pills, "whether I was stealing from other people, buying from other people, or lying to doctors."

In 2012, she stopped drinking alcohol because she "woke up and had no idea where I was or how I got there. I was just fed up with it." She did not, however, stop using marijuana or pain pills.

In 2015, she moved to Wyoming. A few months after moving here, Megan found out she was pregnant. While she admits she "smoked marijuana up until seven months of being pregnant," she stopped everything else. However, she was prescribed one 10 mg. hydrocodone at night for back pain, keeping the door open to her addictions.

In 2017, Megan was introduced to methamphetamine. She was "instantly hooked." Trying to cope with life and unresolved trauma, she got deeper into her addiction, criminal activity, and eventually was "introduced to the needle." Megan's spiral took her to being placed on probation. She said, "I didn't take it seriously. I had no interest in quitting. I didn't know how to quit. I was in a toxic relationship. I kept getting arrested and was in and out of jail."

In 2019 Megan started Big Horn Basin Family Treatment Court on Sept. 9, 2019, and was required to go to residential treatment. She spent eight months there and was able to have her daughter in treatment with her.

Megan completed treatment, graduated Treatment Court, successfully completed probation, and continues to engage in treatment even though it is no longer a requirement. It is something she chooses.

Her message to others struggling with addiction is, "you're not alone, there is a lot of people that would be willing to help you when you're ready and willing to help yourself." Megan states, "Treatment is difficult but it is worth it and it's worth doing something that you've never done before. It's worth giving it a shot to better your life and your future. The more we talk about it and put it out there, the more others will want to come forward and get the help that they need. The stigma and judgment behind addiction causes them to feel so much shame and guilt about it that they do not want to seek help. Recovery has given me a good life."

Megan is now in her second semester of online college majoring in psychology. She's purchased a car, she has healthy relationships, she is an advocate for others struggling with addiction, and her most important role, she is a present mother.

Recovery IS possible.