A woman who became an alcoholic at 16 years old has shared the harrowing realities of binge-drinking, and revealed how she finally gave up booze for good after needing hospital treatment 15 times.
Audra Hanson, 25, who is originally from Fargo, North Dakota, but now lives in Los Angeles, California, picked up her first drink when she was just a teen.
Audra – who suffered from anxiety and panic attacks – said she became an alcoholic right away, describing liquor as the ‘answer to all of her problems.’
It got so bad that Audra began skipping classes and going to school drunk – leading to her failing numerous classes – and by the time she was age 18, she was blacking out on a regular basis.
Over the years, she ended up in the hospital more than a dozen times due to her excessive drinking.
A woman who became an alcoholic at age 16 has shared the harrowing realities of binge-drinking, and revealed how she finally gave up booze after needing hospital treatment 15 times
Audra Hanson, 25, who is originally from Fargo, North Dakota, but now lives in Los Angeles, California, picked up her first drink when she was just a teen
Speaking out: Audra – who suffered from anxiety and panic attacks – said she became an alcoholic right away, describing liquor as the ‘answer to all of her problems’
Eventually, her body began ‘rejecting the alcohol’ and she would wake up after a night of drinking with shakes, cold-sweats, blurred-vision, vomiting, wheezing, and more.
Her mental health was also suffering – and she said she began to ‘hate’ herself and who she was becoming.
Finally, when Audra was 22, she decided to give up drinking for good, after she realized that it was going to ‘kill her’ if she didn’t make a change.
‘My problems with alcohol began [at age 16] – and they never ended, I was an alcoholic from day one,’ Audra told Jam Press.
‘It was the answer to all of my problems, I had no more anxiety, I felt happy and I felt free.’
Audra had previously done well in high school, but as her drinking increased, it started to take a toll on her schoolwork.
She continued: ‘I started to drink, I began to skip classes and didn’t take any of it seriously anymore. My senior year I went to school drunk a few times.
It got so bad that Audra began skipping classes and going to school drunk, and by the time she was age 18, she was blacking out on a regular basis
Eventually, her body began ‘rejecting the alcohol’ and she would wake up after a night of drinking with shakes, cold-sweats, blurred-vision, vomiting, wheezing, and more
Her mental health was also suffering – and she said she began to ‘hate’ herself and who she was becoming
‘After the age of 18, I was regularly blacking out. I have no idea how many drinks that would be, I could easily finish bottles of wine to myself.
‘By 20, I was blacking out virtually every time I drank, I had months where I would drink almost every day.’
Audra said she began to feel the physical and mental effects of excessive drinking, leaving her at one of the ‘lowest points’ she had ever been at.
‘I didn’t start to get bad hangovers until I was 20 and then at 21, they became terrible,’ she recalled.
‘My body was completely rejecting the alcohol and I felt like it was shutting down.
‘The hangovers also started lasting for several days including shakes, cold-sweats, blurred-vision, vomiting, wheezing, and fatigue. I was at one of the lowest points I’d ever been.’
At the time, she was taking college classes, but ended up failing and withdrawing from a lot of them.
Having suffered from anxiety and depression for a long time, Audra used alcohol to numb her feelings, but in the end, she found it only made the situation worse.
She added: ‘Once the drinking began to intensify, so did those feelings. I started to notice that drinking wasn’t as fun as it used to be and that I didn’t feel the same from it anymore.
Audra said she began to feel the physical and mental effects of excessive drinking, leaving her at one of the ‘lowest points’ she had ever been at
Having suffered from anxiety and depression for a long time, Audra used alcohol to numb her feelings, but in the end, she found it only made the situation worse
Finally, when Audra was 22, she decided to give up drinking for good, after she realized that it was going to ‘kill her’ if she didn’t make a change
‘Eventually, drinking led to terrible panic attacks and emptiness.’
Audra’s friends and family tried to help her over the years but it would be a long time before she accepted that she had a problem.
READ RELATED: Dementia symptoms: The early warning signs of Alzheimer's disease
‘My parents tried to get me to quit using at 16/17 when I was in high school and sent me to an outpatient treatment facility in hopes that I would quit,’ said Audra.
‘Then, from around 18- 20, I had questioned my relationship with alcohol many times but I always assumed that it would self-correct and I would grow out of it.’
In September 2018, when Audra was 21, she came home from a trip to Las Vegas and noticed she had strep throat so went to see a doctor.
‘The doctor looked at my chart and saw that I had been in the emergency room several times that summer for my drinking and told me that I really needed to stop and that this was a serious problem,’ she shared.
‘It’s what I needed to hear that day and at that point, I came to terms with my alcoholism, but I didn’t quit right that day.
‘It was the day after my 22nd birthday when I had a huge spiritual disturbance, I knew that if I kept living my life this way that alcohol was going to kill me.
‘I had already come to the understanding that I was an alcoholic, but now I was faced with an even bigger problem – I didn’t know how to stop.’
Audra got in contact with Hazelden, an addiction treatment center, and spent six months in an outpatient program there, calling the ‘best thing’ she could’ve done for herself
Audra went through two relapses after that – one after 14 months of sobriety, and one in May 2020. Since the second relapse, she has stayed sober, but admits it hasn’t been easy.
‘The biggest change for me has been mentally. I have learned to love myself for who I am and understand that turning to alcohol is not the solution,’ she gushed
Audra got in contact with Hazelden, an addiction treatment center, and enrolled in an outpatient treatment for the following week.
She said: ‘I spent six months there and it was the best thing I could’ve done for myself. I finally understood my addiction and I was not alone in my disease.’
Audra went through two relapses, one at 23 – after 14 months of sobriety – and one month-long relapse in May of 2020.
Since the second relapse, Audra has stayed sober, but admits it hasn’t been easy.
‘I consider alcohol to be my first love, I was really mourning the loss of a relationship when I gave up alcohol,’ she explained.
‘The biggest change for me has been mentally. I have learned to love myself for who I am and understand that turning to alcohol is not the solution.
‘My relationships have felt more fulfilling and I am able to show up for the people I love.’
In November 2021, she started sharing her story on TikTok, and she now has over 20,000 likes.
In November 2021, she started sharing her story on TikTok, and she now has over 20,000 likes
Audra gushed: ‘The community on my Tiktok page is absolutely incredible. People are so supportive and have also expressed their own journeys with sobriety’
‘I am very passionate about destigmatizing addiction and mental health issues, so if I can help people by sharing my journey through sobriety, that’s all I care about,’ she added
Since opening up about her journey online, Audra has received an outcry of supportive messages and responses.
Audra, who now works on the business development team at Oceanrock addiction treatment facility, said: ‘The community on my Tiktok page is absolutely incredible. People are so supportive and have also expressed their own journeys with sobriety.
‘I am very passionate about destigmatizing addiction and mental health issues, so if I can help people by sharing my own journey through sobriety on social media, that’s all I care about.’
Since opening up about her journey online, Audra has received an outcry of supportive messages and responses.
One person commented: ‘I’m so sorry babe we are a sad generation w happy pictures. Sending you lots of love thank you for sharing this.’
Another added: ‘I’m super rooting for you – alcohol is used by many to fill holes and ends up drowning us.’
‘Sobriety is hard. Nine years and counting. It’s really amazing how much more there is once you actually start living. Keep Going,’ someone else said.
Another wrote: ‘I gave up four years ago. I was drinking daily constantly sick and foggy. You’ve got this you can beat this you’re incredible.’
A different user commented: ‘Girl I’m right there right now. Happy healing my love.’
Source:
