I spent my childhood in an abusive family environment and I moved all over the place. I started drinking at the age of 14 and moved out of home. At 18 I got into taking drugs and getting into trouble with the police. By 20 I was diagnosed with manic depression with schizophrenic tendencies. Later they renamed it bi-polar.
My life revolved around drinking and taking drugs. I have tried most drugs over the years cannabis, amphetamine, acid, heroin, prescription drugs and magic mushrooms. At 30 I decided to stop taking drugs as most of my friends started to die from drug misuse.
I still carried on drinking regardless of all this. The one person I had through it all and who I could rely on was my mum. She would always pick me up and try to sort me out. Then in 2014 my mum passed away. All of a sudden I had no one to turn to and was left to sort everything out myself. My drinking got worse.
I soon realised that I had to do this on my own. I lived in Leeds but I was struggling to change with all my drinking buddies around me so I decided to move away to Grimsby. I got in touch with Foundations who have been very supportive and helpful.
When I first went, I did not want to join in with anything but with Foundations constant support, my life started to improve. I made new friends and we supported each other through our problems.
One good friend is Frank and it was listening to his story that made me look at myself.
I stopped drinking and things started to change. I got involved with the allotment and started to attend the gym. I became a peer mentor as I wanted to try and use my experience to help others. I’ve lost over eight stone with healthy eating and for the first time in my life things are going great without using drugs or alcohol.
Published 24th November 2017
