Saturday morning. I dreamed last night but I don’t remember it. I’m okay with that.

Yesterday was one of the hardest days of my life, but I did it. I got through it. I confronted the trauma that has been haunting me my whole life. This is my story.

From ages 8-21, I was drugged against my will with powerful, experimental pharmaceuticals and put through abusive “therapy” programs designed to destroy the lives and minds of children and teenagers, as well as their friendships, families, and communities. These programs are based on cult-like brainwashing tactics and mind-control techniques perfected by the military. These programs are run by people with little to no actual qualifications for the sole purpose of enriching themselves. They are prescribing powerful drugs to minors without regard for any negative side effects and ignoring any and all pleas to stop. If children and teenagers refuse to take these medications, they are held down and forced to swallow these poisons against their will. There is no regard for their health or wellbeing. It is 100% about Control.

These are facts.

It happened to me.

I am not “crazy.” I am not “sick.” I do not have a “disorder” of any kind. The adults who were trusted to take care of me abused and traumatized me. I was the victim of a crime committed against my body, my mind, and my soul. My human rights were violated on the most basic level. My dignity was stolen from me. I was broken into pieces and told over and over that it was “good for me.”

The worst part? This system is flourishing. It’s enriching people every day and it’s hurting even more. It’s endless. The deeper you dig, the worse it gets. We don’t know yet how bad it really is.

For years I’ve struggled to find myself again. I’ve done everything in my power to put all those broken pieces back together again. The fact remains that I was woefully underprepared for the real world and that it has been a very real struggle for me to survive. I turned to alcohol to numb the painful memories, to stop the nightmares, to turn off the intense emotional reactions to random triggers I could not control. I’ve spent my whole adult life trying to survive on my own and I can’t. I can’t do it all alone. I am starting to believe that humans are not meant to be alone. That’s why these TTI programs are so sinister. In the end, we all end up alone.

But here’s the thing… I am not alone in my experience. There are so many of us out there. So many stories yet to be told. We don’t yet know how deep this really goes.

I watched Paris Hilton’s “This is Paris” documentary a few years ago, before she started her campaign against the Troubled Teen Industry. I recognized her story. It was mine. And to hear someone like her telling it to the entire world without fear or shame… it inspired me. But I couldn’t tell my story yet. I was still trapped in the cycle of trauma.

Now, things have changed.

Yesterday I took my last micro-dose of mushroom chocolates and watched both Hell Camp and The Program on Netflix. Again, I recognized the stories told. They were mine. They were me. I saw myself and my experience represented accurately for the first time onscreen. It was horrifying.

We must put a stop to the Troubled Teen Industry. Every day there are more and more children whose lives are destroyed and families torn apart. They are not helping these kids. They are destroying them.

Now that I am breaking free of my chains, I can use my story to help others. I can name names. I can find the people making these documentaries and reach out to them. I can give them a list of real names, real people who did bad things, real places that existed. I can testify with my experience. I can inspire others to do the same.

I don’t know what the future holds for all of us, but I do know that these programs are evil. They exist for the purpose of enriching others, not for the sake of helping children and teenagers get the real help they need.

I am no longer the scared 16-year-old girl who is frozen in terror and watching in horrified silence as my friends get dragged away in the middle of the night to be taken to torture facilities.

I have a voice. I have power. I have a choice. I can do the right thing now.

I will do the right thing now.

My name is Betsey Horton. I am a Survivor of the Troubled Teen Industry. I am ready to share my story with the world.