Accept and face your addiction
FOR many people, it is not easy to give up a bad habit – be it taking drugs, eating unhealthy foods or drinking too much alcohol.
But the first step is accepting you have a problem.
No one can make this decision but you, said a Durban businessman, who began binge-drinking as a teenager.
The father of two, who declined to be named, said his life had hit rock bottom and from there, there was nowhere to go but up.
“I started drinking at the age of 16. At first I only drank beer, but as I got older my preferences changed. I drank hard liquor like brandy and whisky. At the time, I thought I was just a social drinker.”
After tying the knot and starting a family, business seemed to be going relatively well.
But his thirst for booze remained unquenched.
He spent an exorbitant amount of money on alcohol, lost his business and his marriage was taking strain.
In 2010, at the age of 34, he tried, unsuccessfully, to kick the habit.
“I drank and partied almost every weekend. I told myself I could stop whenever I wanted, but I was in denial. I was never in control of my drinking.”
In a bid to change his lifestyle, he decided to move from his home in Mount Edgecombe to a gated community on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast.
“The area was quiet and because I ran my own business, I managed my time and freedom. But I soon got bored and started going to the pubs.”
He drank alone until he made friends at the complex.
“We started drinking on Saturday at lunchtime and then went bar-hopping in the afternoon,” he said. “We would only return home the following morning.”
His wife used to call him about his whereabouts, but he would switch his cellphone off.
The man’s family life was suffering, and so was his business.
When POST met him recently at the Chatsworth Recovery Centre, he said he was back on the straight and narrow.
“I went out, drank myself sick and slept it off. When I got up, my energy had been zapped.
A day or so later, when I began to feel better, I admitted that I had a problem.”
After making enquiries, he heard about the centre and sought help.
“I can safely say that after two weeks of being on their programme, I am doing much better.”
His business and family life, he said, was also improving.