Now is the time to end the stigma of addiction
Think differently in your attitude to those with problematic substance use
Michaela Jones used alcohol to help her cope with trauma from an early age. In her 30s, her alcohol use increased and increased to the point where she almost lost everything.
Now aged 54, Michaela has been abstinent for 13 years and credits the support she found from her ‘tribe’ in getting recovery.
Explaining why she started using alcohol, Michaela said:
“A lot of this is reflective, but I had what would considered a fairly traumatic childhood and I was also sexually abused for a really long time. I suppose I disassociated as a result. I was like two people all the time. The outer me was outgoing and extrovert, whereas the inner me was a scared, frightened and hurt person, and it was complex trying to juggle the two.
“The outer me did really well. I went to Uni, travelled, volunteered overseas and then when I came back to the UK, I got a job and worked my way up in the organisation, eventually managing a team of around 200 people.”
During this time, Michaela’s alcohol use increased as she describes alcohol as being the only thing that brought those two different people together. She said:
“As the outer me was on the up, the damaged person was going down the way. Alcohol removed all those nerves and anxiety, but my use increased and increased to a point where I was drinking to survive. I got up in the morning and was drinking, then being sick, drinking, then being sick. I was physically addicted and couldn’t function without it.
Michaela lost her job, and the structure that went with it, eventually losing her home, her car and her relationship, and then attempted suicide. She said:
“All the chickens came home to roost when I lost my job. I knew I couldn’t live the way I was living but I didn’t know any alternative. God knows how I got through those first few months of detoxing, I was hanging on by a thread.
“One day I was frankly quite angry about the lack of support there was for me. I couldn’t believe how bad it was. I became involved in service user involvement and went to the first recovery walk and saw my tribe – and that’s when I got recovery.
“That was the start of a journey where you realise all these people who are stigmatised and seen as negative to society are amazing people with amazing assets. The only thing they share is pain and suffering that they’ve tried deal with through using drugs and alcohol, which seemed logical at the time until the drugs and alcohol became the problem.
“To break stigma, you’ve got to stop seeing people as a homogenous group and see them as individuals with their own story. And taking time to understand that story can change lives.”
To break stigma, you’ve got to stop seeing people as a group and see them as individuals