By the time his son was born a few years later, Jon knew that his addiction was controlling his life. He decided that it was time to do something about it, but despite his best efforts he soon went back to drinking. His addiction badly affected his behaviour making life very difficult for the people closest to him.
‘I just wanted to be in blackout so I didn't have to face the reality of everything I had created,’ he says.
Eventually Jon reached such a low point that he was finally able to admit that he needed help: ‘Ironically, it needed to get to that level of darkness and pain for it to crack me enough… It had to get painful enough for me to realise that the problem was in me, it was not anywhere else.’
‘I said to myself, “I cannot do this anymore. I do not want to do this anymore.”’
With the help of a support group called Alcoholics Anonymous, Jon was able to talk about his alcohol problem with other people struggling with addiction. This was a turning point in his recovery. Over time he was able to stop drinking, learn to love himself again and rebuild relationships with his family and friends.