Fifty-three-year-old Ronnie Merritt’s battle with the bottle started in 1998 when her 5-week-old baby son died of pneumonia. “When he died, I was still making bottles and buying nappies, I was just hysterical with grief,” Ronnie said. After the baby’s death, she spent six weeks in a mental health hospital to help her deal with the grief. The treatment wasn’t successful, and she said, “When I came out, I took up drinking, and with the cocktail of medication I was on, I don’t know how I woke up some days. People didn’t talk about depression back then.”

How Did the Illness progress?

She suffered a relationship breakdown and moved to a different town. Ronnie explains, “I started dating and then living with an alcoholic, so it was hard not to rely more and more on it. It crept up on me. It started as grief and then became binge drinking. I turned to alcohol to escape, but it made things worse, and I hit rock bottom.” The once warm and glowing mother-of-two was now an alcoholic at the lowest point of her life.

What Do You Do When You Reach Rock Bottom?

Ronnie finally realised that she needed help and went for a two-week detox programme, followed by some therapy and counselling. She said of her life after alcohol, “I’ve learned to enjoy life without alcohol, something I didn’t think possible before. My relationship with my kids is now amazing. They’ve noticed changes in me. I’m happier, there’s no alcohol in the house, we can sit and have proper mother and daughter conversations again, and I’ve got a glow back in my hair and skin.”

Recovery Lighthouse is here to help you if you need help with alcoholism. We are but a phone call away and our staff is trained to deal with any challenges that you may be facing.

What Are the Benefits of a Rehab Programme?

Dealing with your demons is the best thing you can do for yourself. As Ronnie now says, “Life without alcohol is brilliant; it’s like a big fluffy world I have not seen before.” Life without alcohol enables you to live fully aware of what is happening around you and help you take responsibility for your actions. You will be able to react positively to situations and challenges in your life and not make things worse by hiding at the bottom of your bottle.

Another benefit is that your relationships with family and friends will improve and you will be able to build positive bridges with your spouse and children, as well as other loved ones. Your performance at work will improve and, here too, your relationship with superiors and colleagues will improve markedly. You will find it easier to meet deadlines and focus during meetings. You will also experience less anxiety during the day when performing your day-to-day tasks.

Where Do I Get Help?

Your first step is to acknowledge that you need help. After this give Recovery Lighthouse a call and speak with one of our trained staff to find out what the best options for you are. We are available 24/7, fast admission times, and various kinds of therapies to help you learn the new life skills and coping mechanisms that are required to make a success of your new life. Our therapists and counsellors are skilled and experienced and will be able to offer you the support that you need through your detoxification and rehabilitation programme. We also offer a year of free aftercare when you leave the clinic. This is to make sure that you have the necessary support systems in place to help you resist temptation when it presents itself – thus preventing you from relapsing.

We are a phone call away. Our friendly staff are ready, willing, and waiting to help you and give you the advice and guidance that you need. If you are phoning on behalf of a loved one who is an alcoholic or is addicted to drugs, we will also be able to help you formulate an intervention to help them to acknowledge their problem and come in for help.