Karl Tapales/Getty Images(NEW YORK) When Angelica Garcia s high school crush, first love, and father of her two children died unexpectedly, she said, her life went into a free fall. The Los Angeles native said she struggled to cope; within months, she started using marijuana, then cocaine and methamphetamine.
"I didn t have the tools to deal with my emotions," Garcia told ABC News. "[So] I started self-medicating."
Years later, after struggling with homelessness, depression, and addiction, Garcia said she found hope and help through an unlikely source: a peer support specialist.
A peer supporter is someone with the "lived experience" of recovery from mental illness, substance use disorder, or both, according to the Substance and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). These individuals undergo training and certification that varies by state, but hinges on education aimed at what SAMHSA calls "recovery-oriented" and "person-cente
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Karl Tapales/Getty Images(NEW YORK) When Angelica Garcia s high school crush, first love, and father of her two children died unexpectedly, she said, her life went into a free fall. The Los Angeles native said she struggled to cope; within months, she started using marijuana, then cocaine and methamphetamine.
"I didn t have the tools to deal with my emotions," Garcia told ABC News. "[So] I started self-medicating."
Years later, after struggling with homelessness, depression, and addiction, Garcia said she found hope and help through an unlikely source: a peer support specialist.
A peer supporter is someone with the "lived experience" of recovery from mental illness, substance use disorder, or both, according to the Substance and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). These individuals undergo training and certification that varies by state, but hinges on education aimed at what SAMHSA calls "recovery-oriented" and "person-cente