Rick is a single, heterosexual, white British male aged 43 currently unemployed and lives in rented accommodation who has been receiving support from the STAND TO project since Aug 2018.
Rick contacted our HUB for support and stated he was drinking over 300 units a week and was really struggling with many areas of his life, especially the amount of alcohol that he was consuming on a daily basis. He had been drinking problematically for the past 18 years; however he stated that he has been drinking alcohol since he was 15 years old. The first 20 years of his “drinking career” was relatively problem free.
Rick was allocated a key worker and a home visit was arranged for the following week. Rick was under the influence of alcohol when visited but he wasn’t drunk. The house was not in a presentable state; numerous empty cider bottles, crisp packets, general rubbish and hundreds of cigarette ends clearly visible in various containers. The house was unkempt and he stated that this was a reflection on how his mind was feeling and also that he did not value himself or his surroundings.
Rick revealed that had been in the parachute regiment in his late teens and that he had joined the Army to get away from the life that he was living in an attempt to try to make his Dad proud of him.
Rick has struggled periodically with mental health issues and also issues around his gender, culminating in being sectioned 10 years ago. To some extent Rick felt relieved that he was not going completely out of his mind and came out of hospital with a diagnosis of OCD and also clinical depression. Rick managed ok on medication, but found that his drinking was still problematic, stating that he couldn’t ever imagine his life without alcohol in it and that he felt like he had no control over it.
Rick has had no contact with his family due to his problematic relationship with alcohol and has never been married. When I asked Rick what support he would like from Stand To, he stated that he would like to listen to him and not judge him.
Since engaging with STAND TO Rick is now 8 weeks completely dry and cannot believe it. During the time that we have been working together the house has been cleared up and for several weeks he has been managing the jobs around the house by himself and his living conditions have improved dramatically. Since not drinking alcohol, all areas of Rick’s life have significantly improved. He no longer has to pawn his jewellery every week to enable him to buy the alcohol he needs. He now has a phone with credit on it, which means he has been able to be in touch with other agencies whereas before he had no way of being contacted.
Rick is talking about his employment status now and looking forward towards a future where he can potentially return to work. Rick was last in paid employment 10 years ago where he was a gamekeeper. Rick would like to return to working on the land in some way. This is a real positive for Rick.
One of the main differences I see with Rick throughout the sessions is that he is growing in confidence and that he now knows that he can manage without alcohol. His self worth is growing each time I see him.