After recovering from alcohol use disorders, two local mothers set about providing a forum for people to talk about reducing alcohol consumption without shame.
In a country where drinking is such an entrenched part of our culture, it can be hard to kick the habit – or even realise alcohol is an issue in your life.
Two Northern Sydney women who have done the hard work to stop their alcohol dependency have started a podcast to help others do the same.
Isabella Ferguson, who lives on the lower North Shore, and the Northern Beaches’ Megan Webb hope to start a conversation about going alcohol-free in She’s Sober Sydney.
The pair met while they were completing an alcohol recovery coaching course called This Naked Mind, from the USA.
“It was serendipity, or fate,” Megan says.
Both ladies have only in recent years recovered from an alcohol use disorder, which developed in their teens. Alcohol use disorder is the term now commonly used by the medical profession to describe over-use of alcohol – previously termed ‘alcoholism’.
The women are both in their 40s and Megan says the podcast was a way to start a conversation.
“It’s making this a topic that’s not taboo anymore and taking the shame away.”
Both Megan and Isabella started drinking in their teens to mask anxiety.
As early as 14, Isabella would drink as it made her more confident. For Megan, at 17 it hid her social phobia, which was so extreme she would shake in front of people.
As time went on, their drinking took on another level. When Bella left her successful 20-year career as a lawyer to became a mother, she threw herself into the ‘mummy wine’ culture with ‘wild abandon’.
“I was using it for all of those things I thought I needed it for: which was to find confidence, to find my voice and to socialise,” she tells North Shore Living.
It was when she started drinking at home on her own that things took on quite a ‘dangerous’ turn, Isabella says.
Her husband came home one night to find her so intoxicated that she required hospitalisation.
“I was a really happy person with a really supportive family, living the life I always wanted to have – yet with a hidden (alcohol) problem,” the North Shore local explains.
For Megan, the COVID lockdown ‘supported’ her drinking habit, with her drinking up to two bottles of wine a night at home.
The mother-of-three then got a ‘wake up’ text from her daughter, which simply said: “‘You are ruining my life,’” she tells North Shore Living. “I knew I had to make a change.”
As part of their own recovery, the ladies listened to a lot of podcasts about excessive drinking – but they were all based in the US.
They discussed this when they met on their Naked Mind course.
“We thought that we needed an Australian voice,” Isabella explains.
“We needed Australian people who could talk about the benefits of an alcohol-free life and reduce the stigma for people out there who were also struggling with alcohol.
“We could be the change (by) opening up our vulnerabilities to the world.”
“It really comes from our hearts,” Megan adds. “We’re just ourselves. What you see is what you get.”
Is She’s Sober Sydney about being alcohol-free? It’s a good question, Isabella says. These days she is an alcohol recovery counsellor, and says her clients want to know how to drink in moderation.
“Because it is a difficult concept to grapple with – to live in an Australian culture and be alcohol free,” she says.
The weekly podcast topics are wide-ranging and include discussions with authors and mental-health experts, as well as practical tips to cope with no alcohol. An episode on teens and alcohol was a hit with parents, Isabella says.
With the increase in ‘alcohol-free’ events like Dry July and Sober October, Megan says it is becoming more acceptable not to drink in Australia.
Isabella adds: “I can feel people wanting to share their stories and celebrate the alcohol-free lifestyle as a viable alternative. I feel it is growing.”
To listen to She’s Sober Sydney, visit shessobersydney.buzzsprout.com.