From Casual Drinking to Full-Blown Alcoholism. School of Rock Bottom 40: Oliver Mason

For the first time, I'm finally telling my story—a story of how alcohol slowly destroyed my life, leaving me physically and mentally powerless addicted & suicidal. I used to be a weekend-only drinker, fully focused on my career but one "hair of the dog" turned into drinking all week and, before I knew it, I was trapped in alcoholism. I was diagnosed with chronic and severe alcohol use disorder and drinking daily. Today, I share my story to give hope. If you feel like you’ve sunk so low that there’s no way out, know that recovery is possible. A life beyond your wildest dreams awaits. A huge thank you to guest host Issy Hawkins, who took charge of my podcast and put me in the hot seat. It’s time for me to speak up and inspire those who need it most ❤️More on Oliver -Oliver began drama classes at the age of six with The Guildhall School of Speech & Drama and got accepted to join The National Youth Theatre aged thirteen. Oliver gained a B.A. (Honours) degree at The University of South Florida & Middlesex University in Drama & Theatre Studies before training as an actor at The Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. Film/TV credits include: From Bard To Verse (BabyCow/BBC), The Mysti Show Series 1 and 2 (BBC Series Regular), Jam, EastEnders (BBC), Bin Weevils (Nickelodeon), Sinbad: The Persian Prince (SyFy), Untitled A Film (Truk Films), CTRL (Breaking Fourth), BroBots (Samsung Films) Lilybuds (Discovery), Red Dwarf (BabyCow/Dave), Time Rewind (Creation Box Films) & Halo (Amblin/Showtime). West End credits include Bombitty of Errors & Twelfth Night. Voiceovers include: The Disney Channel, Santander, McDonald's, The Samaritans, BBC Worldwide, Virgin Media, eBay, Currys, Morissons, Nissan, Seat, T-Mobile, BT & Kellogs. Topics -0:00 Intro 1:50 Oliver's rock bottom 7:20 Why is Oliver telling his story now?8:55 Early recovery challenges physical & mental 12:45 Oliver's relationship to the industry when he was drinking vs recovery 16:30 Is relapse part of recovery?20:00 The 12 steps was the last thing I wanted to do! 23:15 Is addiction progressive?28:20 Heavy drinking vs alcoholism 30:30 Relationships with family30:45 Is addiction a disease?34:20 Is addiction trying to kill you?37:10 Dealing with fear, self pity amd anger 44:00 Panic attacks!48:10 Does Oliver need a recovery community to stay sober?51:25 Navigating sobriety in a drinking culture society54:25 What has recovery given you today?For further support I recommend reaching out to your local NHS alcohol service and AA -T: 0800 917 7650E: [email protected]: https://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.ukGreat book for panic attacks -https://www.christineingham.com/panicThis Podcast is not for profit but my goal is to break even. To help me make more please donate here. Thank you! https://bit.ly/3kSucAsFollow Issy Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@issyhawkins_Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/issyhawkins_Follow Oliver Instagram - https://bit.ly/3IemHLY Facebook - http://bit.ly/3w8S1GxTikTok - https://bit.ly/3YGLsYmLinkedIn - http://bit.ly/3kp4ymCThreads - https://bit.ly/3svw7yLX - http://bit.ly/3GQYj2lListen or watch on: (please subscribe/follow & rate/review)Spotify - https://bit.ly/4cFvnIyYouTube - https://bit.ly/3Ts8npRApple - https://apple.co/3PajZvQ#podcast #recovery #alcoholaddiction