“For those without such issues, by far the biggest misconception about people struggling with addiction is why they can’t just stop,” laments Elaine Atkinson, founder of Ocean Hills, a private detox and rehabilitation sanctuary based in Hawke’s Bay. “But it’s not that easy for people that are dependent on drugs or alcohol. They can’t ‘just stop’.”
Elaine is speaking from first-hand experience. Now into her fifteenth year sober, she established Ocean Hills after her own healing process in order to help rehabilitate other alcoholics.
“I’d always partied hard and drank until I got really drunk,” she says. “After years of this, I was starting to get spooked by more and more blackouts and big gaps in my memory. There were times I didn’t know where I had been or what had happened, which was scary. I knew I had lost control of my drinking.”
Alcohol is the country’s most consumed drug. In the decade preceding 2018, though beer sales dipped slightly (0.5 percent), sales of wines increased by seven percent and spirits by more than a third. Of the four in five Kiwi adults that consume alcohol, one in four drink hazardously (rising to two in five for young adults), with men twice as likely as women to drink to excess. Around 50,000 Kiwis seek help regarding their alcohol or drug use each year.
Elaine says there will be different levels of “rock bottom” for different people, depending on their circumstances, that will eventually drive them to seek help.
We want the stigma around substance abuse broken… For the subject to be openly talked about, and more resources to be made available for both whānau and addicts.
Brave Hearts NZ offers such a service, for free, providing support and direction “for people with loved ones with substance and addiction issues”. Erin established the group following her own son’s “long and painful journey with meth addiction”.
“It could be regularly not turning up for work on time because of hangovers, partners being constantly angry, or poor parenting,” she says. “Some become so dependent that they need to be hospitalised to be detoxed off the alcohol. Many out there drinking and drugging are sick and tired of keeping up the façade, and they just want help.”
For Elaine, the “final straw” came on her fortieth birthday, when she wound up hospitalised with a burnt oesophagus, chest pains and “unable to eat properly for days on end”. “I knew I was sick, and I knew I should stop, but I wanted to drink more,” she says. “Later I went to a support group and realised from seeing all these happy, healthy people that there was a way to stop drinking. From there, I finally got sober and stayed that way, with the support of the support group, and my doctor.”
Though cannabis is New Zealand’s most popular illegal drug, methamphetamine is said to be easier to buy. According to NZME documentary Fighting the Demon, Aotearoa is home to one of the world’s most lucrative meth markets, with around $1.4-million worth sold each day. The NZ Drug Foundation reports that 8.5 percent of the population smoke cannabis monthly, versus one percent for meth, but a disturbing study released last year revealed that more than a quarter of middle-aged New Zealanders had tried methamphetamine at least once in their lives.
Erin Scarlett ONeill, co-founder of addiction support group, Brave Hearts NZ, says that contrary to popular belief, meth addiction affects “all socio-economic groups and professions, not just those on benefits or lower incomes”.
“For every addict who is hurting, there is a husband or wife, mother, father, brother or sister also hurting,” says Erin. “This needs to be addressed and family and whānau supported, not only for ourselves, but because sometimes we are part of the problem.”
“I moved to Tauranga and met Ros who had also been on a journey but had been helped by a local policeman, Lindsay Red Smith,” says Erin. “We decided to start up a group for other parents and enlisted Red’s support in organising a meeting for whānau. We had 60 people turn up to that first meeting in 2016, so it was obvious that people were crying out for help. Not only did they not know where to get it, but it was often limited, with agencies themselves stretched in their efforts to help addicts, let alone the suffering families. And so Brave Hearts NZ began.”
Though based in Mount Maunganui, Brave Hearts also facilitates regular meetings in Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Nelson, Motueka and Clutha, with Christchurch a possibility early this year.
“We have one-on-one, free of charge sessions with educators who sit with you family to tailor a plan that will teach you to cope with the daily, terrifying trauma of living with, or being close to, a meth addict.”
Elaine echoes that support of family and loved ones is an integral part of every recovering alcoholic’s journey.
“People often make the mistake of believing that once they leave rehab, they are fixed, but post-treatment care is crucial,” she says. “We have to get the message across that, although they’ve done really well, their recovery is only just beginning. They will be in a world surrounding by booze and drugs and advertising which is a real challenge to those attempting a life of sobriety.”
“We want the stigma around substance abuse broken,” says Erin. “For the subject to be openly talked about, and more resources to be made available for both whānau and addicts.”
Making Brave Hearts Beat
- “Our aim is to: educate, advocate, support, and counsel,” says Erin.
- Aside from the group meetings, the charity facilitates awareness seminars with professional speakers.
- “Brave Hearts works so well because we have been through the experiences ourselves,” says Erin. “We offer ‘head knowledge’ and total empathy. We want to pass on that knowledge to help alleviate others’ suffering.”
- Anyone in distress can call Brave Hearts’ freephone number 0508 272 834
- Donations can be made at the website, bravehearts.nz
Ocean Hills, A Santuary For Sobriety
- Tailored clinical treatment programmes are offered, usually lasting two- to four weeks, with a weekly aftercare service.
- The “sanctuary from the chaos of addiction” offers addiction, education, relapse prevention and mindfulness. Activities include nature walks, yoga, art and equine therapies.
- Clients may self-refer, or be referred by their GP.
- Only four guests at any given time ensures a high-level of support and care.
- “We see, live, and breathe the miracle of recovery every day,” says Elaine. “We never give up hope.”
