Yet, Lia said that “immediately” after the incident, everything changed drastically. “I was ending up in hospitals due to my poor mental health,” she said. “The worst part was spending time in psychiatric wards due to falling into drug-included psychosis.”
Lia explained of the condition, “Your reality warps, you can hallucinate for days, weeks and sometimes for the rest of your life. You can hear voices and they can tell you to do things to yourself or others that you don’t want to do.”
Her life took a turn in January 2020, when she met someone she had a “complicated relationship with” and was “using heavily with.” That July, he died by suicide.
Though “losing him was one of the hardest realities I’ve ever had to face,” she said that after his death, a friend of hers stepped in and helped her become sober.
She now credits her friend for being the help she needed on her journey.
“I tried almost every single drug you can think of and lost everything I had,” Lia said. “I’ve been to jail, psych wards and rehabs. I’ve slept on the street and now I can tell you that the one thing that saved me was love. Real love. That’s why I’m here. Because love is so powerful. Love is the reason I’m alive.”
Nowadays, Lia lives in England with her partner Charlie Hudson and just marked 10 months of sobriety.
