At just 18 months old, Alisha Crossley experienced major family trauma. Her father shot her mom 6 times in the back. She was able to survive but lived in constant pain after the attack. Her father was diagnosed with ADHD and abused cocaine regularly. He later committed suicide, when she was just 6 years old. She lived with her mom until the age of 14 when she moved out and tried to make it on her own. As a young teenager, she was diagnosed with anxiety and depression and started experiencing panic attacks regularly. She didn't show as many obvious symptoms as her male classmates, so it was harder to diagnose.
In college, Alisha majored in English. At the age of 27, Alisha had what she called a "Quarter Life Crisis", and started binge drinking, binge eating, and being self-destructive overall. She did a lot of research and history on her family and found that addiction on her mothers' side was rampant throughout many generations. She would take caffeine pills and Modafinil, which helped her focus, and didn't realize that she was having trouble focusing on a daily basis. She learned that she inherited her ADHD from her father and the alcoholism from her mother. This is what she calls inter-generational addiction, where addiction is basically genetically passed down to siblings in a family, through no fault of their own. She also realized she is a people pleaser and was emotionally codependent in a lot of her relationships in her young adult life. She actively monitors this trait now and has learned how to focus on pleasing herself first, before pleasing others.
She also realized that she needed to take control of her professional course in life, and make career decisions that would make her happy, both financially and emotionally. Alisha has been a wedding photographer now for 13 years. Now she's also an author, writing books such as "Codependent No More" & others. Alisha is also the host of the Imperfectly Polished Podcast, bringing misdiagnosis of ADHD to light for women suffering from different kinds of issues that commonly get misunderstood. Hear how she was able to turn a troubled upbringing into something positive and rewarding for her family. And of course, "Roll Tide". For more on Alisha and to follow her on social media visit https://alishacrossley.com/
This is Alisha Crossley in her own words, on Knockin' Doorz Down.
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