I grew up as a kid with ADHD, and also for the longest time hid part of myself. I am LGBTQ. I was never really able to cope with my neurodivergence properly until I got much older, I am 23 years old now. If anything from this I want you all to take from this that you can make it out at the end, even if it seems like there is no other way out. I struggled with substances since I was 14, starting with alcohol and later in life drugs. When you grow up hiding who you really are inside due to your social situations, maybe your friends wouldn’t accept you or maybe your family are not as accepting. The point is it’s very isolating. You tend to feel like no one is there for you, you can’t be you, that you’re not worth it or that you never deserved to be happy. I started abusing harsher drugs like codeine and others I won’t mention here, so much so there were times I could not control whether I was awake or not. A year before I got sober, I lost my partner, and I was treating my family quite poorly and things go to that point where I could not see the way out besides one way, and it was the music of Juice Wrld as crazy as it may seem, that made me feel if he could do it, I could too, and he would want that for me and anyone else. So, I stopped using drugs, went through withdrawal symptoms, symptoms that I felt like I was dying from. But with the help of finally forcing myself to reach out to help, via my family and doctors/professionals, I was able to stay off the drugs, stop alcohol abuse, and to this day I never stop even though I may deal with anxiety being grateful that I am still here to make new memories and to pass Juice’s message on. You really can go from no one, nowhere, no hope no salvation to being much happier, healthier and with a future ahead, no matter how old or young you are. Your emotions are valid, your mental health is important, and if Juice led you here, then you and I both know the same truth. He would’ve wanted you to recover the same way I did, 999, rest in peace Juice, and thank you for being one of the few artists I felt I could truly relate to.
