Kratom helped me

Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) is a tree that is native to Southeast Asia. Kratom belongs to the Rubiaceae family, the same family as the coffee plant. It has been used for centuries for its medicinal purposes to treat musculoskeletal pain, alleviate anxiety and treat opiate withdrawal.

I served in the U.S. Army from 2005 to 2014. During that time, I was married and deployed two times to Afghanistan. My husband was a veteran who served multiple tours in Iraq. The brothers he was with in Iraq began to take their own lives. I could tell he was in an overwhelming amount of pain. On average, 22 veterans commit suicide every day, and in 2013 my husband took his own life.

At that moment, my life changed forever. I left my career as a soldier. I was admitted to inpatient and outpatient facilities for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism.

Continue reading at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.