My name is Kristy R., and this is my story of “True Hope.” I am 30 years old, and I have been taking EMPowerplus since the age of 24, when, after years of struggling to survive the misery of mental illness, I had run out of options for treatment.

Try as I might, I could not get off the roller coaster of emotions known as Bipolar Disorder. I was diagnosed with Bipolar Type ll Disorder, so I rarely swung high into mania. Rather, I experienced severe suicidal depression regularly, and was unable to stay well on various cocktails of psychotropic medication. I was so desperate, I even tried numerous treatments of ECT, or “shock therapy”. I experienced brief periods of happiness, and I wanted so badly for them to last so I could be “normal.”

Sadly, nothing that traditional medicine or therapy had to offer, could allow me the emotional stability that I needed to feel any hope for a future. Again and again I returned to the darkness and saw only one option – to die. It was so painful for live. Through what I consider to be divine intervention, none of my very serious attempts to end my life were successful… I should’ve been dead many times over, but here I am – sharing my story.

When I started on the program, it was with the support and approval of my long time psychiatrist, not because he believed I would benefit from nutritional supplementation, but because he had nothing left to offer me. The Truehope program was my last hope for wellness, and wow – did it ever deliver! It has been six years since I started taking the micronutrient treatment and I have only been hospitalized once briefly, during an exceptionally stressful period of time. I work hard to keep my life balanced, to take good care of myself, to take my EMPowerplus every day.

There is no miracle cure – staying well requires consistent effort, and self awareness – but the Truehope program is as close as you can get to a miracle! I am so grateful to my mom for doing the research and finding the Truehope program, and for being my biggest supporter, to the founders Anthony (Stephan) and David (Hardy) for making the product available, to the many wonderful support staff who answer the phones and make the calls to check in on the participants. I truly believe I would not have made it to the age of 30 if it was not for all of these factors. I have one more thing to be grateful for – my sweet baby girl, Cypress, who was born on Friday, July 13. She is the best gift I’ve ever been given!

Despite my history of mental illness putting me at a higher risk for postpartum depression, I have not experienced any depression whatsoever. I have so much to be thankful for, and I am so glad I survived – because life is richer than I ever imagined it.