A Scots mum has told how she managed to turn her life around after beating the booze.
Catrina Slavin, 41, has changed career, started a support group and launched a podcast about addiction after quitting drinking three years ago.
Catrina, from Blantyre, managed to get back on track after doing a 12-step recovery programme, and said it was the “best decision” she ever made.
She said: “I grew up in Blantyre in the 90s and like most teenagers back then, started drinking at the weekends with my pals.
“Looking back, I probably can trace back my problems with alcohol even to then. I always had to get blackout drunk, always took it too far.
“I continued binge drinking, every weekend, I just couldn’t stop. I would wake up, embarrassed and hungover and promise myself that was it. But I couldn’t stop and the next weekend I’d be in the same boat.
“I had no motivation to do anything, I was miserable and thinking about when I could start drinking consumed every thought. But I wasn’t an alcoholic in my mind because I wasn’t passed out on a park bench. I wasn’t buying vodka at 10am every day, but I was just as much an alcoholic as those stereotypes because I couldn’t stop.”
Eventually, in September 2021, Catrina took the plunge and attended her first 12-step recovery programme. Not telling anyone, she quietly gave up the booze and began to work on turning her life around.
She started looking after her physical and mental health, took up hillwalking and started to give back.
After a year of sobriety she started a recovery groups for addicts in her area and launched Binge with Catrina – a podcast that delves into all things addiction.
Catrina told Glasgow Live: “I had been working in a call centre for ten years and hated my job.
“I quit and now work full time helping young people aged 13-25 with addiction.
“I’m also a Recovery Rhythms coach, that uses music and movement to heal through music and my podcast. Binge with Catrina, has been streamed thousands of times in 35 countries. I love my life now, I’m so happy and look forward to my day when I wake up.
“It’s an emotional time of year for me, being the anniversary of when I got sober. I had tried several times before, I had tried Sober October and I tried just stopping on my own but I couldn’t.
“When I started the 12-step programme, I didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t trust myself that it was the last time I’d drink and I was also really ashamed. There is a real stigma around addiction, especially with being a mum.
“When I did start to tell people I was in recovery, most were surprised because they didn’t know I had a problem. I hid it well, I had a full time job, I was always out and about but alcohol consumed my life.
“I’m so much happier now in every area of my life and so passionate about recovery.
“If you want to get sober, don’t be ashamed. There is a lot of help out there if you can be brave enough to take the first step.”
If you would like help for alcohol, visit https://www.nhsggc.scot/your-health/central-and-local-alcohol-and-drug-recovery-services/
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