I turned to drink when I became a single mum, I'd blackout & have run-ins with police, but a dog walk changed everything
But as she got older, Lucy couldn't shake her need to drink to escape reality.
3
The mother-of-two, now 49, did well at school and went on to study law, and didn't see a problem with being a party girl as everyone was doing it.
But Lucy was able to stop drinking at the age of 22 when she found out she was pregnant with her first daughter and stayed away from the booze while breastfeeding.
But she soon went back to her old ways after nursing, she revealed: "It was a bottle of wine most nights with my husband."
"But I didn't feel then that I had a dependency on it. I never felt like I was using alcohol to self-medicate - which, now, when I look back, I can see that I really was."
Lucy says that while she drank a bottle of wine every night, she never saw it as a problem as she didn't consume it in the day or drink and drive.
"We were buying really nice bottles of red wine and having one between us every night, thinking it was really grown up and sophisticated," she told FEMAIL.
But her relationship with alcohol drastically changed when her husband left her a single mum at the age of 27, and she hit the 'self-destruct' button.
She recalls drinking a bottle of wine every night after her daughter had gone to bed, using it as a crutch for husband walking out.
Now, her days of drinking had become 'outright dangerous' and had even led the mum to have run-ins with the police.
One particularly bad episode Lucy remembers is attending a concert with her boyfriend at the time.
3
I'm a mum of two, did drugs, drank wine everynight and didn't think I had an issue - it wasn't until a night at my parents which made me realise I was a functioning alcoholic
She revealed she got so drunk that she lost him and woke up at midnight under a tree in Hyde Park with her belongings gone.
"I'd lost my purse, my phone, my boyfriend. Two policemen were stood over me and I just couldn't remember anything," she adds.
Lucy went into detox mode after the event, but found herself in a cycle of binging and then not drinking for weeks for the next six years.
Nobody questioned her habits, she says, adding that it was normal for her generation to do it.
"Given the cultural context [of the 1990s and early 2000s] that I was drinking in, it wasn't seen as this horrific thing," she explained.
In 2010, when Lucy had completed her law degree, she struggled to get a job and found herself at a new low.
One evening, she downed three bottles of wine while her daughter stayed with her dad and decided to talk the dog for a late night walk that changed her life forever.
Lucy was so drunk she didn't make it home and collapsed in the middle of the street.
What to do if you think are an alcoholic
IF you're struggling with alcohol addiction, the most important thing is to recognise the problem and seek support - You don't have to face it alone.
Seek Professional Help
GP or Doctor – A medical professional can assess your situation and provide advice on treatment options.
Therapists or Counsellors – Talking to an addiction specialist can help address underlying causes and develop coping strategies.
Rehab or Detox Programmes – If physical dependence is severe, medically supervised detox may be necessary.
Consider Support Groups
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) – A well-known 12-step programme that provides peer support.
SMART Recovery – A science-based alternative to AA, focusing on self-empowerment.
Local Support Groups – Many communities have groups tailored to different needs.
It was only after a friend driving by had spotted her and called an ambulance that she got to safety.
Lucy found herself in Sheffield General Hopsital and said it was the 'wake up call' she needed.
She explained: "I just thought, 'That's it, I'm done.' I was terrified of drinking because of what had happened on that night.
"Waking up in hospital was truly the most horrendous thing. I was so ashamed and it just rocked me to the core."
Lucy spent the next 18 months sober before asking herself if she could drink again.
That's when she realised she was much happier without it.
Now, Lucy has launched Soberistas - an online 'community of non-judgmental people, helping one another to kick the booze and stay sober.'
Having become a charity in 2023, Soberistas has grown into Lucy's fulltime job as she hits 14 years of sobriety.
"One of the biggest problems that stopped people getting sober was that they were just too ashamed to talk about it - so they carried on drinking," she said.
Now Soberistas provides a platform for people to talk anonymously about their drinking habits and find support.
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