Nottingham continues to have some of the highest levels of problem drinking in the UK – with the death rate for chronic liver disease nearly double the national average, and tens of thousands of people in the city struggling to control their intake.
As part of Alcoholics Awareness month, Notts TV News has exclusive interviews with Nottingham people battling addiction. All identities have had to be concealed and names changed. Here Katherine, a former nurse, tells her story to Sharon Walia.
“I was in trouble at work because I was off sick a lot with being hung over and drunk. It had been going on for many, many years. I was working for the NHS and it started even in my training.
“The first time when I wet my bed that I can remember was when I was in the nurses’ home [while training] when I was 23.
“I mean in my nurse training days it was fun – I was fun – I was the life and soul of the party.
“I was passionate about being a nurse and I threw myself into it. I did do a lot of good, and because it was shift work I used to bargain with myself and say ‘well I won’t have a drink until ten o’clock, I’m on a late, or I’ll stop at eight as I’m on an early, but in the end it didn’t make any difference, I drank whenever I wanted.
“When I was drinking – and I’m not proud of this – I have stolen somebody’s purse and then helped them look for it. That was low.
“I’m a nice, decent person really, so of course because of my conscience I hated myself. I loathed myself. I didn’t seem to be able to do anything to stop it.
“I tried to commit suicide twice.
“My last action as a drunk was on a set of stairs and I remember thinking ‘I can’t do this on my own’ and I didn’t particularly mind [falling] and thinking if I died that would be great. I thought someone would come round [and find me in the morning] not knowing what I’d done.
“I don’t remember doing it but I called Alcoholics Anonymous one night while I was drunk. The only way I knew was because someone phoned me from AA the next day.
“My first meeting there was amazing, I started going to as many as I could and started to read everything. I started doing my steps thoroughly with my sponsor, and I managed to get to a year without a drink.
“They say pick up the phone, not a drink, and it is one day at a time.”
To contact Alcoholics Anonymous in Nottinghamshire call 0115 941 7100 or visit the organisation’s website.
Specialist support for those struggling with alcohol is also available from a range of other local organisations including Recovery in Nottingham and APAS.
