Your Stories
Our online story hub is a place for you to hear from different families across Scotland.
Stories are relatable and they humanise everything you are going through. They can support you if you don’t know where to start. They let you know you are not alone. They can help you take that step forward for support. And even reading stories can be a way to cope with what is going on.
We will always share family member’s stories and champion everything they do.
Thank you to the families who have shared their stories with us in our online story hub.
Guidelines:
We welcome you to read through the stories below that are published on our website, and we also welcome you to submit your own story to the hub.
Submitting your story and sharing it online can be a daunting experience, so we would always say to ask yourself first if you are feeling okay with this. If you’re not up to it yet, take some time to think it through. And if it’s not for you, then that’s absolutely okay.
You can submit your story to us using the link below or here. You can write your story out first on a word document and then send it over to us.
If your story is suitable for our website and follows our guidelines, we will post it here in the hub. We will usually edit your story only for clarity, using plain English, and web usability. We will make sure to confirm with you first if you are happy with any changes.
We can’t publish every story we receive, so please don’t feel disappointed if you don’t hear back from us.
You don’t have to use your real name if you don’t want to. You can remain anonymous or give yourself a pseudonym.
If you are wanting to share a story but don’t know where to start, our lovely communications team are here to chat with you. You can contact us at rebecca@sfad.org.uk or shana@sfad.org.uk.
Please Note: this is not our Helpline and you will not get a response from our support team. If you need support please contact 08080 10 10 11 / helpline@sfad.org.uk or use the webchat on our website.
Creative Writing
As the holiday season approaches, we share our heartfelt support and guidance to every family member across Scotland who is dealing with challenging circumstances this year. The constant stream of...
Creative Writing
Words by Karen Macdonald The journey continues. Today is a much better day. That awful knot of anxiety in my stomach is there, as always, but not as tight. The lead weight pressing on my heart is...
Case Study
To Whom It May Concern, I am writing this in the hope of helping me understand why I lost my son James at just 29 years old. To others, he is just a statistic – another drug’s death. But he was my...
Creative Writing
Words and photo by Karen Macdonald This wonderful word describes today’s weather perfectly. My lovely niece used it in one of her Facebook posts on the subject of neurodiversity, and that’s a...
Creative Writing
Words and photo by Karen Macdonald Who would have thought that there is a whole science and skill to the art of crushing beer cans to fit in the orange recycling bin? It has to do with quantity,...
Case Study
By Allison Parenting a child with mental health problems, ASD/ADHD and addiction. I have decided to document the last week of our lives to outline the emotional, psychological, and physical...
Case Study
By P McG Please note this story mentions violence and mental health problems. If you are affected by someone else’s alcohol or drug use, you can contact us on 08080 10 10 11, helpline@sfad.org.uk...
Poetry
By Elspeth Watching the water flow over rock Still water and rapids Still water runs deep Deep and meaningless Out of our depth in addiction Out of our depth in the unrelenting flow of needs and...
Poetry
Poem by a family member from our Forth Valley Family Support Service Are you feeling lonely? If so, you’re not alone Loneliness can hit us Sometimes when we’re at home Sometimes when we’re...
Poetry
Written by a family member is being supported by our Forth Valley Support Service Are you feeling lonely? If so, you’re not alone Loneliness can hit us Sometimes when we’re at home Sometimes when...
Case Study
By Catherine, 2021 It’s nearly five years now… five years in which so much in my life has happened. Milestones that my dad should have seen. My graduation from university, my first ‘adult’...
Case Study
By Anonymous, for Commission on Alcohol Harm, 2020 Names in the story have been changed I grew up in a small village in the 80s and in those days, people didn’t really talk about alcoholism or...
