After alcohol-induced seizures nearly killed him, Ben Robinson went to rehab - and is now six years sober. My relationship with booze grew over the years into a full-blown addiction - although I was the last person to acknowledge that fact. Most people assume addiction is the byproduct of trauma, but not with me.
Yes, there were reasons behind my boozing, and I do have an addictive mindset, but for a long time, especially in my early 20s, I thought it was just part of having fun. Sadly, as my intake steadily increased, it became a habitual crutch which got out of control. I lost jobs, I couldn’t pay my rent, I was lying to my parents, hiding vodka in a Ribena bottle and drinking it on the tube.
By the time I went to rehab, I was drinking up to 50 units every day. I was 27 years old, unemployed and living at my mum’s house. She knew I was drinking , but she didn’t have a clue about the dark truth that was really going on.
All I cared about was the next drink. One day, I had a withdrawal seizure in the middle of Nottingham’s city centre after I’d suddenly decided to stop drinking. Things were unravelling and, naively, I thought it was a good idea.
My body literally couldn’t function without the alcohol and I blacked out twice. I was rushed to hospital, where I fell into an alcohol-induced psychosis. Hallucinations , the lot.
When I eventually came out of hospital, I stayed at my dad’s house for a few nights - he and my mum are separated. They’d previously sugges.