The power of admitting you are an alcoholic



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Shame and guilt are the biggest barriers to facing the problem.

Twenty years ago, the English Trini Woodell and Susanna Constantine were a highly successful creative tandem. They distributed fashion advice through television shows, books, websites, and regular newspaper columns. They had millions of fans around the world and their lives seemed completely clear, except for one incident in 2002 during the Cannes Film Festival. The two were later drugged while sleeping in a villa on the French Riviera by thieves who stole their money and jewelry.

In recent years, however, their career paths have diverged, although they remain good friends. Trini went into the makeup business and Susanna went on to raise her three children and write books. According to her, what buries her glamorous career is the television show “Undress the Nation.” He has been widely criticized for being too naked and eventually stopped.

In recent weeks, however, the two have returned to the limelight of the media after raising the issue of women’s alcohol dependence and the difficulties in dealing with it. “I am an alcoholic and have been recovering for almost 7 years. Like most addicts, I blamed others for it. I accused my husband of being passively aggressive, but in reality I was passively aggressive. I was terrible, angry and my poor husband had to live with it, “Susanna, 58, said in a podcast interview. It took him a long time to finish his glamorous career with Trini. “Suddenly I didn’t have a partner, so I had to identify as a lonely person, like Susanna. This seemed very difficult to me, as if I was in mourning. I lost all my confidence, I gained weight, my self-confidence was crushed, ”he shares. She felt liberating when she confessed all this, as she was deeply ashamed of her dependence on alcohol and her inability to cope with it all the time. It wasn’t until he answered the questions of what was caused that he mustered the strength he needed to deal with it.

He now attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Something Trini does sometimes. Although she has been clean for almost 30 years, she participates in social gatherings to share her experience and maintain with her what she has achieved.

Trini Woodell’s encounter with alcohol and drugs began when she was 16 years old. He went to study in London, but at the time he had high self-esteem due to the pimples of adolescence on his face. He starts drinking a bottle of vodka at night and then switches to drugs. At the age of 21, he was on the brink of death for the first time after an overdose and underwent rehab, but he quickly left. “In one of the meetings, another participant approached me and said: ‘You didn’t have enough, you have to get out of here and have a real fund,'” he recalls. This sudden comment from a stranger cost him another 5 years of alcohol and drugs. One night, while having fun with three close friends, they decide to sign a contract to stop using drugs and drinking. “I desperately wanted to do it, for the first time in 10 years I had this feeling. I called my psychiatrist and told him I was ready,” says Trini. He spent seven months in a rehab program and another half year under home supervision. The other three friends they do not keep their word and now they have passed away. Turning the tape, Trini takes into account that the reeling from drinking is due to low self-esteem, and probably a genetic predisposition, since her grandfather and uncle were also He sees this as a disease, not a choice, so he continues to adhere to the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-Step Therapeutic Program, whose main philosophy is that sobriety is not a condition but a process.

This actually helps her get through a number of difficult life situations without going back to the cup and the drugs. After marrying former musician Johnny Elihaoff in 1999, she suffered several miscarriages. She underwent in vitro procedures in order to give birth to her daughter in 2003. Six years later, the two separated and in 2014, Johnny committed suicide. At that time, Trini was looking for a new career after the breakup with Susanna. He has to give up his big house, sell some of his fashionable clothes and belongings to start his own business. She began dating businessman Charles Satchi, 21, with whom she still is.

Trini and Susanna’s revelations about their alcohol problems come at a time when many people are turning to the drink in an attempt to cope with the stress brought on by the coronavirus. At the beginning of the pandemic, the World Health Organization called for alcohol not to be used as a sedative, because it is not, and its use can lead to serious mental and physical problems. However, a series of studies show that its sales have exploded in recent months, even in our country. “In Bulgaria we traditionally have high levels of alcohol intake in both sexes, but within this epidemic its use has increased even more. Which shows the lack of understanding that there are other methods to deal with stress, ”commented WHO representative Prof. Assoc. Mihail Okoliyski to BTV. He noted that due to the increase in alcohol consumption, there is an increase in aggression, as around 17 women have been killed since the start of the epidemic.

According to Annie Grace, self-help counselor for alcoholism, shame and guilt are the biggest barriers for people who want to deal with the problem. If you’re constantly feeling negative about yourself, it spins you in a vicious cycle, he told the Daily Mail.

Before becoming a consultant, Grace also consistently relied on drink to deal with the stress of running a large company.

She decides to stop when she finds herself carrying small bottles of wine in her bag and ordering champagne during the morning flights as well. But the most serious moment for her is when her 5-year-old son refuses to hug him because his teeth are blue from wine and he smells bad.

“Don’t tell yourself that you are giving up alcohol forever, because not following the ambitious ultimatums will make you feel even worse. Set a shorter term of one or two months. I always tell myself that I drink when I want, only that I have not wanted for 6 years, “advises the self-help guru. If you decide to ritually break with the vice, do not choose for the last drink something that is your favorite, but pour something that convinces you of how bad alcohol tastes . “Think of giving up like winning the lottery. A study shows that alcoholics can spend up to £ 300,000 on drinking during their lifetime, ”adds Grace.

Women get addicted faster and with less

Several studies have shown that women become more dependent on alcohol than men. First, the reasons are biological. They are usually lighter than men. Their bodies contain less water, but more body fat, which leads to a higher concentration of alcohol and a rapid reaction in the body.

Therefore, the fairer sex should not consume more than one standard drink a day or seven a week in order to avoid developing addiction and the accompanying health problems.

Examples include heart disease and liver damage, as well as breast cancer.

However, there are also psychological factors that make women more vulnerable to alcoholism. Unlike men, who are used to going out for drinks with friends, this feminine behavior is still frowned upon, especially when it comes to mothers. As a result, some of them start drinking at home, first to relieve stress and then as a habit.



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