Listen to Patrick's inspiring story of recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. His 6-week stay on the addiction treatment programme at Priory Hospital Woodbourne turned his life around.
Patrick's journey
I was the original party boy, drinking and taking drugs since the age of 16. I didn't realise how bad the problem was. I was the kind who would have 4 or 5-day sessions without stopping.
I thought it was cool to drink as much as possible, be the last man standing. But honestly, it ruined my life.
You don't realise how destructive it is. Those days you miss at work, the jobs you lose, the relationships that break down. And it gets worse. It starts off fun, then it becomes fun with problems, and then it's just problems. My usage escalated and escalated. I didn't know when to stop, and the cravings wouldn't go away.
The addiction treatment programme
There were times when I was thinking "what am I doing here?" I had to do a full detox. For the first week or 2, in particular, you're locked in. But it's the best help you'll ever receive. It's really nice grounds, nice facilities. And I had some of the best consultants, the best psychiatrists, and therapists. I am forever indebted to the work they did with me.
You can find a new passion, things that you love. You're just replacing it - you're replacing the addiction, the alcohol. You have to want to be that person who can change but you can't do it by yourself.
My advice to people with an addiction
Make that change.
If you can get yourself to help, go and speak to your doctors, speak to families, whatever you can do. Contact Priory, look at what's available to you. My life is incomparable to what it was even a year and a half ago. Make the change. Do it. It'll be the best thing you've ever done.