Chapter 2 Ken's Story

“I realized that if I continued to drink, I was not going to see 40.” -Ken

Chapter 2

Ken’s Story

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” -Confucius

I am 37, and I am in recovery. I grew up in Ballymun and was one of 5 children. We were reared by our mother after my father tragically passed away when I was young. I lived a pretty normal life, going to school and hanging out with my friends. My two greatest interests at the time were horses and bikes.

I started drinking when I was 16. We used to get a few cans and drink them in the fields away from watchful eyes. What started off as a bit of fun soon turned into a regular habit, especially at the weekend. I began drinking more and more as I couldn’t handle the hangovers. As a result, by the time I was twenty, I was drinking every day. This continued unabated for quite a number of years with disastrous consequences. My mental and physical health began to gradually deteriorate. I was suffering from bouts of psychosis and I was constantly depressed. My relationship with my family, my kids and others were extremely strained and it got to the stage where I couldn’t hold down a job for any longer than a few days, if at all. At my family’s request, I started attending a counsellor, but even this was short-lived as I was doing it to appease others.

It eventually got to the point where I hit my proverbial rock bottom and went to Vincent’s hospital for help. I also was attending the Mater (Mater Misericordiae University Hospital) and Beaumont hospital for liver problems, and I started taking anti booze.

I realised that if I continued to drink, I was not going to see 40 and with great support and encouragement from my family, friends and local services in the community, I turned a corner both in my mind as well as my behaviours. It was definitely not easy at the start, but with perseverance and the unstinting support I had, I gradually began to find my feet.

Today life is so different, I am stronger in myself and have mended and improved many of my relationships with my family and friends. In addition, I have taken to sport like a duck to water. I am regularly running, cycling, and immersing myself in the icy cold waters for a swim around the Dublin coast. I am also working full time now and feeling the positive physical and mental benefits of abstinence. I have also established a positive outlook on life. It would be wrong to sugar coat recovery as I still have my ups and downs, but even on my worse day, alcohol does not cross my mind. I would appeal to those people who are struggling or battling with their substance use to seek help. There is, in my experience, plenty of help available in the community.

Recovery is possible if you put your mind to it, but it has to come from yourself and be for yourself. I appreciate that it’s not easy and that your abiding thought in alcohol and or drug use may be that you can’t do it, but I am living proof it can be done. •