Hidden Pictures

by Jason Rekulak

One of the hardest things about recovery is coming to terms with the fact that you can’t trust your brain anymore.

we don’t know how much our bodies can endure until we make cruel demands of them.

‘When you eliminate the impossible, all that remains, however improbable, must be the truth.’

Over several months, the drug had completely rewired my brain, hijacking more and more of my pain receptors, and now I needed OxyContin simply to exist. I couldn’t sleep, or eat, or focus in class. And no one warned me this was going to happen. No one told me to expect a struggle.

I try to imagine the tedium of being stuck in a lonely house on ten acres of land in the middle of rural West Virginia—with no companions except my husband, a kidnapped child, and a vengeful spirit. I’m not sure how long I would last without losing my mind.