Please meet Lucy Rocca who chose to stop drinking in 2011!

There is a great deal of confusion, stigma, shame and discrimination surrounding addiction, addiction treatment, addiction recovery and whether a person even has to say they are “In Recovery” or call themselves an alcoholic in order to get sober. Yet those who have the disease of addiction and are in recovery or those who simply choose not to drink for whatever reason go on to live healthy, productive, engaged lives — the same kinds of lives as people who do not have this disease or never had an issue with drinking too much. But all the words and definitions and explanations in the world are not as powerful as the people themselves. To that end, we are grateful to the people willing to share their experiences so that we all may put a Face to a Life Without Alcohol.

It is my great pleasure to introduce Lucy Rocca – choosing not to drink since 2011!

 

How did your drinking start?

I started drinking as a teenager – very quickly it was obvious that I had no ‘off switch’ and I always drank to get drunk. When I got divorced in my late twenties my drinking became less about fun and social occasions and more about drinking alone to self-medicate depression.

What was the turning point for you – what made you want to get sober?

When I was 35 years old I woke up in hospital at 3 am one morning with no memory of how I had got there. I found out after that I’d collapsed on the pavement outside my house after drinking 3 bottles of wine, and a friend had found me unconscious and vomiting. I finally accepted in that hospital bed that I would never be able to control how much I drank, and that if I continued to drink alcohol, I would die prematurely leaving my daughter motherless. I never drank again.

What was your initial treatment?  

I wasn’t physically dependent on alcohol so I didn’t need any detox or formal rehab programme. I educated myself about alcohol dependency by reading books, I attended cognitive behavioural therapy for a few weeks to investigate the reasons behind my heavy drinking and I committed to a life of being alcohol-free. With time and a lot of self-love, that did the trick.

Do you do anything differently, today?

I am more interested in healthy living now, and I like to meditate and go running a lot. These things helped in the early days, and I continue to consider them useful tools to help keep me in a happy place.

What is your life like, now?

I don’t really consider myself to be ‘in recovery’ as I feel more that I made a choice to stop damaging myself and those around me through drinking, and so quit. These days I just live as a regular person who isn’t addicted to any substance – I value the time I spend with my family, I love working and being creative (I am a published author who writes books on women and alcohol dependency), I love developing the website community I started, Soberistas.com, I keep fit, I am mindful of how great life is, I don’t look back on the mistakes I made, but I focus on all the things I am still hoping to achieve in life. I try to be the best person I can be.

Do you have anything you’d like to share with someone currently struggling with a substance abuse problem or an addiction? How about anything you’d like to share with their family or friends?

The early weeks and months of sobriety can be an absolute roller-coaster, mentally, as we learn about the person we are and get used to ‘feeling’ our emotions for the first time. Meditation and mindfulness can really help get you through this period. Plus, reading about addiction and substance misuse is a great way to educate one’s self – knowledge is power after all! There are a lot of great books out there on alcohol dependency and how to overcome it. Joining a community of like-minded people (for instance on Soberistas.com) is a great way to connect with others who understand how you feel and can offer tips and advice on alcohol-free living.

What is the best part about your recovery?

I don’t regard myself as being ‘in recovery’ – three years ago I quit drinking and I am now a person who doesn’t drink which for me is just a part of who I am. In comparison to who I was as a drinker, I now value life more highly and I have learnt to like myself again – I have self-confidence and a strong sense of direction. Life has purpose again, whereas when I drank that was pretty much all my life was about.

To learn more about Lucy and her current work, please visit Soberistas.com, which she founded and describes as “…a social network that is free to join where you can meet people who are trying to resolve their problematic drinking patterns, and people who have successfully kicked the booze.” Lucy is the co-author of The Sober Revolution: Women Calling Time on Wine o’clock, “a book specifically written for women who are looking for a way out of the alcohol trap,” and her recent book is titled, Glass Half Full.