By the time Luke Colson hit his early forties, he’d reached what many would view as the height of success.
The Fulham native, 52, had recently moved to Los Angeles for a film production role, having made a name for himself as a visual effects artist on hits such as Men in Black and Captain Marvel.
The US relocation was an exciting move for the whole family – his wife, as well as children, then aged five and two.
But the father was hiding a dark secret.
Luke had been nursing a debilitating alcohol addiction for the best part of 20 years, a habit that saw him drink five bottles of wine a day at his worst, and scurry away stashes of booze in the office toilets.
‘I loved the feeling of my head spinning,’ he says. ‘I’d drink an entire bottle of wine in the car then hide a second in a bush for later.
‘I’d drink a bottle of wine in the toilets before work, I’d have another bottle of wine at lunch then a third in the afternoon.
After years of drinking up to five bottles of wine a day and hiding his addiction from his family, Luke has now been sober for 7 years
‘A fourth and fifth in the evening. I could drink a bottle in 20 seconds.’
The problem, he says, began when he was 16 and continued into his university years.
‘The drinking got heavier, but I thought I was doing what everyone else was,’ he says.
In his twenties, while working in advertising in London, Luke began drinking alone and taking cocaine with friends to ‘subdue feelings of grief and pain’ after witnessing a friend die after being hit by a car.
He was also grappling with low mood, anxiety and depression rooted in a difficult childhood, during which he watched his own father struggle with alcohol misuse before his death.
Things started to look up when he met his future wife.
But just three years after they married, as the couple prepared to welcome their first child, their relationship started to break down and Luke’s drinking worsened.
‘Somehow it would become two or three glasses of wine over dinner…and then a bottle of wine to myself when I got home,’ Luke said.
‘Now I know it was because on my mental health, and the idea of having a child bringing back my own trauma, but at the time I didn’t know why.’
He says alcohol nearly cost him everything – including his marriage and relationship with his children
At the peak of his addiction, Luke could drink an entire bottle of wine in just 20 seconds
Things went from bad to worse after the birth of their second child – around the time Luke accepted the job offer for in LA..
His wife repeatedly pleaded with him to seek help but instead he simply became better at hiding his drinking.
He would go to great lengths to hide his addiction, changing into gym clothes and telling his wife he was going on a run, before ducking into a bar.
‘I’d even pour water over my head to look like I’d been sweating, and run home,’ he admits.
He estimates there were at least 20 occasions when he woke up shaking in a ditch, covered in blood, with no memory of how he got there.
Divorce papers arrived in 2018, and pushed him deeper into addiction.
‘After I was thrown out, I processed to start drinking myself to death,’ he said.
But one night, in July that year – after he was finally caught lying about being sober and told he would no longer be allowed to see his children – everything changed.
‘An old friend called and I just broke down in tears, surrounded by empty bottles, and asked for help.
Now sober and rebuilding his life, Luke hosts a recovery podcast to help others struggling with alcohol addiction and childhood trauma
Luke was admitted to hospital suffering from dehydration and was put on a drip.
When he was discharged, he went straight to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, marking the beginning of his recovery.
Today, he has been sober for more than seven years.
With the help of therapy and antidepressants, he has rebuilt his relationship with his children and transformed his life.
Now he is determined to help others break the cycle of addiction, through his recovery podcast, ‘Well, That F*cked Me Up’.
‘I’m so glad that I got out the grip of that life. It was a miserable existence,’ he says.
‘I would never wish what I went through on anyone, but I’m at peace now. I’m a happy and confident person.
‘But I wouldn’t be here today if I hadn’t got sober. I know now I was dicing with death and it’s terrifying to think about.’
NHS guidelines advise adults not to regularly drink more than 14 units of alcohol a week, equivalent to around six pints of average-strength beer or ten small glasses of wine.
Yet around a quarter of British adults exceed these recommendations.
More than 320,000 people are admitted to hospital every year with alcohol-related conditions, while more than 10,000 deaths are linked to alcohol, most commonly through liver disease.
But new figures suggest attitudes may be changing, with almost a quarter of adults in England now teetotal and growing numbers of younger people choosing to avoid alcohol altogether.
DO YOU DRINK TOO MUCH ALCOHOL? THE 10 QUESTIONS THAT REVEAL YOUR RISK
One screening tool used widely by medical professionals is the AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Tests). Developed in collaboration with the World Health Organisation, the 10-question test is considered to be the gold standard in helping to determine if someone has alcohol abuse problems.
The test has been reproduced here with permission from the WHO.
To complete it, answer each question and note down the corresponding score.
YOUR SCORE:
0-7: You are within the sensible drinking range and have a low risk of alcohol-related problems.
Over 8: Indicate harmful or hazardous drinking.
8-15: Medium level of risk. Drinking at your current level puts you at risk of developing problems with your health and life in general, such as work and relationships. Consider cutting down (see below for tips).
16-19: Higher risk of complications from alcohol. Cutting back on your own may be difficult at this level, as you may be dependent, so you may need professional help from your GP and/or a counsellor.
20 and over: Possible dependence. Your drinking is already causing you problems, and you could very well be dependent. You should definitely consider stopping gradually or at least reduce your drinking. You should seek professional help to ascertain the level of your dependence and the safest way to withdraw from alcohol.
Severe dependence may need medically assisted withdrawal, or detox, in a hospital or a specialist clinic. This is due to the likelihood of severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the first 48 hours needing specialist treatment.
