52 www.ReadMPM.com | www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.MountPleasantPodcast.com therapist had me fill out a questionnaire with questions like, ‘Do you ever drink and black out?’ And no, I had never blacked out,” he said. “I answered ‘yes’ to a few questions but thought I aced it. I thought alcoholics were people who couldn’t function. In the past I had taken a break from alcohol for a week here and there, but Charleston is a drinking town, and you just get back into it.” His therapist soon confirmed he may have a drinking problem and asked if he would consider quitting if it would help his mental health. For McDonald, it was a no-brainer. He attended his first support meeting in 2021 and has been sober since. With good health came good fortune, and he noticed all aspects of his life – especially family and work – significantly improved. “I’m more confident, the anxiety is pretty much gone. It’s like I’ve been freed from prison. Your whole physicality changes,” he smiled. “I am more present as a dad and a husband – it’s unbelievable.” STUDYING BAD HABITS Aidan Baumann was not a partier either, but the COVID shutdown dissolved the focus and support system she had as a high school dancer. She began drinking to “practice for college” at home, and was a pro by the time college began. “My friends and I would go out and meet older men who would buy us drinks, and they would get us absolutely blacked out. It seemed normal because we were in college, and we were young and that seemed like what everyone was doing. I would wake up in the mornings with crippling anxiety and depression, and my only solution was to keep drinking,” she explained. Things spiraled downward quickly as she leaned more heavily on alcohol to suppress her anxiety, pregaming before dance performances and eventually secretly drinking at work. “I had to do it to stop the shakes and not be an anxious mess and pretend I had everything together and be my bright, chippy self,” Baumann said. “People thought I had it all together, but I was dying on the inside.” Following a breakup and a one-car accident, she told her mother she needed help. Last summer she spent a month in detox locally and two months in a recovery program in North Carolina, and now has rediscovered many joys in her life. She also attends support meetings daily. “Once I finally admitted I had a problem – there was so much shame around it – life got so much better than I would have ever thought,” she beamed. A CULTURAL NORM J.R. McCroskey started drinking at a young age and was never taught to drink responsibly. He drank heavily throughout high school and college and went into a career field where working hard and playing hard – often with a drink in hand – was part of the culture. An early-morning house fire in 2007 fueled anxiety and depression, and his tendencies shifted from partying to self-medicating with alcohol. “For two years of my life, I was treating my depression with a depressant,” he explained. “At 29, I woke up in a hospital with full-blown delirium tremors, close to dying from alcohol poisoning.” That was 16 years ago, and with the help of a 12-step program, he has been happy and sober ever since. “I’m pretty passionate about sobriety now, especially when it comes to mental health. It’s a stigma that needs to be changed,” he said. “I was so worried what people would think of me, but you get to a point where you don’t care what other people think. And the ones who care want you to be better. Struggling with alcohol – especially in Charleston – is way more common than people are willing to admit.” All of those who shared their stories agreed that if you are ready to stop drinking, the first step is to ask for help. Ask a supportive friend or family member, go to a 12step meeting or check yourself into a detox center. Help is available, and there is hope for a sober future if you are ready to make a change. health & wellness
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