September 13th 2024.
When Dale Cranswick was just a child, he had big dreams of becoming a chef. So when he was presented with his first opportunity to work in the hospitality industry, he didn't hesitate for a second. But as he began to experience the demands and long hours of the job, he found himself struggling with sleep and feeling overwhelmed with pressure. To cope with the stress, he turned to drugs, which quickly spiraled into a dependency that cost him $800 a week at its peak.
"I was so passionate about cooking and becoming a chef," Dale, who is now a resident of Perth, shared. "I used to watch Ready Steady Cook and it was my favorite show. But once I actually started working in the industry, it felt more like I was in Gordon Ramsay's kitchen."
With 80-hour work weeks and only occasional Sundays off, Dale found himself in the thick of it all. The career he once dreamed about left him feeling disillusioned. "It was so stressful and there was no room for creativity or enjoyment," he explained. As a result, he turned to drugs like marijuana, dexamphetamine, MDMA, and alcohol to get through his days.
It's ironic that Dale, who was once against drugs in high school, found himself in a profession where drug use was almost normalized. "It seemed like most chefs were turning to drugs to cope with the stress," he recalled. But eventually, he realized he needed help and went to his GP. To his disappointment, he was prescribed more medication that only numbed his emotions and did little to break his addiction.
After years of struggling, Dale reached a breaking point. One day, he found himself crying in the kitchen and knew something had to change. He went back to his parents and began seeing a psychologist. This ultimately led him to rehab, where he was able to break free from the cycle of addiction. Today, at 30 years old, Dale is now studying psychology and addiction at university.
Addiction expert Tabitha Corser, who founded The Whitehaven Clinic in Western Australia, shared that it's not uncommon for worried families to wait more than five years before seeking help for a loved one's drug and alcohol abuse. She also noted that a majority of the people she treats at her rehabilitation clinic are taking prescription drugs to cope with their addictions. However, this can hinder their recovery by masking underlying emotional and mental factors that contribute to the addiction.
Corser emphasized the importance of addressing these underlying issues, rather than simply relying on medication. She explained, "There's a big focus on using another drug to solve alcohol addiction, but that's just a band-aid solution. We need to prioritize addressing the mental and emotional factors that lead to addiction in the first place."
According to the latest statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, one-in-three people admitted to consuming alcohol at risky levels last year. Additionally, more than 131,000 Australians sought treatment services for drugs and alcohol in the last financial year. Corser believes that a purely medical approach to addressing addiction is not effective, as it gives people a false hope that a pill can solve all their problems. She stressed the importance of tackling the root causes of addiction, rather than just treating the symptoms.
Meanwhile, Dale is determined to use his own experience to help others in their recovery journeys and to reduce the stigma surrounding addiction. He is currently working towards a graduate degree in psychology with the goal of pursuing his masters. And while he still enjoys spending time in the kitchen as a hobby, his new professional goal is to make a positive impact in the lives of others. "Going from rock bottom to getting to uni, it was a very big year and a year that I needed," he reflected.
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