For most of her childhood, growing up in southeastern Pennsylvania, Kelly Zimmerman felt alone and anxious.
She despaired when her mother was depressed or working late shifts; when her parents fought nonstop; when her friends wanted to come over, and she felt too ashamed to let them see her home’s buckling floor, the lack of running water.
Kelly tried to shut out those feelings, and when she was 18, a boyfriend offered her an opioid painkiller — Percocet.
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