Addiction is something that can impact whole families. Jennifer Young, a Bismarck resident, fell into the cycle of addiction two years ago after she had lived around it her entire life. She did not believe drugs could make someone so careless so she decided to try to understand.

“There’s several different reasons why I jumped into it, but the biggest reason was me trying to understand. The first time I ever stuck a needle in my arm I was hooked, I was done for,” says Jennifer.

Jennifer is a mother of 5. After she had her youngest, she relapsed and gave up custody to her mother. This was her wake up call.

“When I was pregnant and I couldn’t stop. I found out I was pregnant and no matter what, I couldn’t quit,” says Jennifer.

Jennifer’s sister, Stephanie Young, says addiction is a common issue within their family. She believes normalizing these behaviors have stopped healing and she wants to see better.

“My sister has never really talked. She avoided it. It was like a wound that sat there and festered. When she became an addict, it finally hit its peak,” says Stephanie.

Stephanie agrees that multiple things led to her sister’s addiction but she believes it was a cry for help.

“Whatever got them hooked, it was very traumatic because anything that leads to something like that is a downward spiral,” says Stephanie.

When the drugs still didn’t give her the clarification she needed, she decided that it was not worth it. She began to work towards getting better.

“For me I never got that understanding because for me I felt I would never do those things. It doesn’t feel good and I didn’t understand why they’d still do it,” says Jennifer.

“North Dakota has this band-aid over everything. It needs to come off and get some air so people can heal. It’s ok to talk about your issues, its ok to get counseling, it’s ok to ask for help; there’s such a stigma behind it,” says Stephanie.

“My main focus towards getting over addiction and breaking off generational curses, so my children and my children’s children don’t have to know that pain,” says Jennifer.

Today Jennifer is living a healthy lifestyle and is working towards getting her kids back. Her goal is to ensure her children don’t have to deal with it.

If you or someone you know is dealing with addiction, go here for more info on where to receive help.