…One Year Into Recovery, I’m a Better Mum’
To mark Mother’s Day, we spoke to Louise, who completed our Online Rehab programme in 2021. Louise is now one year and one month free from alcohol and cocaine addiction. Today, we wish Louise a very happy Mother’s Day, and we are celebrating how far she has come. She told us she feels grateful to be alive, and describes having a special relationship with her children today.
In 2017, Louise’s addiction to alcohol and cocaine spiralled when her marriage broke down. She self-medicated with alcohol and cocaine, using up to £200 of cocaine per day, to numb the pain of post-natal depression and divorce. At the end of her addiction, Louise was drinking and using round the clock. As a single mum of two children, Louise couldn’t access traditional rehab services, where people step out of their life for weeks or months. She found Help Me Stop’s online addiction treatment programme, which worked around her family commitments. Call Help Me Stop on 0208 191 9191 to talk to us about cost-effective treatment.
Of her alcohol and cocaine addiction, Louise says…
‘I consider myself an unlikely addict. I have no story of childhood abuse. My addiction spiralled because I was lonely, hurting, partying, hurting and bored. I found any excuse to have the next drink or line. Around half my mum friends were taking cocaine, so I justified it. I was in complete denial about the impact of my addiction on my children and me. I refused to accept their lives were any worse off due to my using and drinking. My mental and physical health were suffering a lot from my using, and as I hit my rock bottom, my self harm and self hatred were all encompassing.’
On accessing addiction treatment as a single mum, Louise says…
‘I was awake at 3am when I realised it was time to get help or die. I searched for a rehab that I could fit around being a single mum. I didn’t have the help with my children to go into a day programme or residential treatment. I found Help Me Stop’s Online Rehab and I went through six weeks of intensive treatment online for cocaine and alcohol addiction. It took an intense amount of therapy and recovery work, to get to the point where I could admit that my kids and I had all been affected by my using. Death was always a possibility in addiction, as I drove my car regularly in those drug and alcohol binges. It’s something I now feel utterly sorry for.’
On her alcohol and cocaine addiction recovery, Louise says…
‘I now enjoy my life in a way I never did in my using and drinking days. I have found true happiness. All my family enjoy seeing the change in me. I’m now truly present for my kids and my relationship with them is so special. I’m grateful for every day alive without drinking and using, as I know how dark and painful my life became. Drugs and drink were in control back then. Who knows where I’d be without recovery? Probably suicidal, or even dead, thinking my kids would be better off without me.’
Get help with cocaine addiction today: contact us here or call us in confidence on 0208 191 9191.
You can also find support for cocaine addiction at Cocaine Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meetings.
