Breaking from the Stereotype: Alcoholism

Most likely you’ve heard of more than a few professionalmusicians with a problem with alcohol. That’s the lifestyle, right? It was for Sean McGary; but, when drinkingbecame an “unmanageable” addiction, he decided to break from thestereotype.

Sean is a professional musician from Cincinnati. Currently,he is a guitar player for The Naked Karate Girls, one of the area’s mostpopular bands.  Music is part of Sean’sfamily history – his father is a world-renowned jazz artist. Unfortunately forSean, alcoholism is also in his family history. “Honestly, I’ve probably beenan alcoholic all my life,” Sean says. At first drinking was manageable forSean. Playing in bands, always in bars, drinking - “That’s just what you do,”Sean says.  “I was a progressivealcoholic. I started off with being a social drinker.”

• Related: 7 Tips for Helping Someone with an Addiction

The Addiction Worsens

Things took a turn for the worse when Sean’s brother passedaway. Sean’s drinking became more frequent to the point that it startedaffecting his job as a music teacher. “I found myself always being hung-overthe next day at work. Then I discovered day drinking. I took a shot of vodkaand it made me feel great.” Sean says.

He thought he hadfound a solution to his problem of feeling sick the next day from drinking. Fora couple months, Sean was able to function at work by starting his day off withalcohol; however, what he thought was a quick fix soon turned into anoverwhelming addiction. “My life became unmanageable,” Sean says. “Some peopleare manageable alcoholics and able to still function. Not me.”  

The Life-Changing Effects of Addiction

Sean became physically addicted to alcohol; if he was awake,he was drinking. He started to miss work and miss gigs. He became financiallyirresponsible and, ultimately, lost friendships.  “I lost everything, all from drinking,” Seansays.

The situation became even more serious when Sean had to behospitalized for alcohol poisoning. While in the hospital, Sean’s motherreached out to Don Gauck, a drug and alcohol counselor for the Bethesda Alcoholand Drug Treatment program and a longtime friend of the family.  

Hitting Rock Bottom

Don visited Sean and convinced him to enter into the drugand alcohol program. After just four weeks, Sean thought he was better and quitthe program, but ultimately relapsed and his addiction worsened. He hit rockbottom when he was arrested and charged with driving under the influence andspent five “miserable” days in jail. This was his turning point. Sean againreached out to Don and this time completed the program and all recommendations.

Don Gauck and Sean McGary

Beating the Addiction

Sean has been sober for more than five years. Not only that,but he has become a facilitator for the Bethesda Alcohol and Drug Treatmentprogram that helped him recover from his addiction.  “The best part of what I do now is I watchpeople transition from start to finish. I watch them get better as a personfrom jobs, lives and relationships,” Sean says. He also sees a lot of failures. People drop out and sometimes do notreturn. 

Since he graduated from the program, Sean has earned hisbachelor’s degree, owns his own music-education business teaching students, andhas been successful as a guitarist for The Naked Karate Girls. Despite therock-star lifestyle sometimes accompanies a musical career; Sean is still ableto continue to do what he loves, without drinking. “I now get to see how peopleact drunk, and honestly, I’m glad that isn’t me anymore. It can get prettyembarrassing,” he says. In fact, fellow musicians sometimes come to him forhelp with their own addiction. The best advice Sean has to offer those who aresuffering from an alcohol addiction: “Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Youtreat what’s ailing you. If you have cancer, you go to a doctor. If you havealcoholism, you go to a counselor.”

Warning Signs You May Have an Alcohol Addiction

Alcohol effects your:

Job

• Poor decision making
• Loss of efficiency
• Absent

Personallife

• Start to isolate themselves away from family andfriends
• Trust issues/communication goes to the side
•  Aggressive actions such as fighting
• Giving up recreation activities  because too involved in drinking orrecovering from the effects of alcohol

Body

• Affects your: Brain, Heart, Liver, Pancreas, Cancer, Immune System
• At risk for Alcohol Diabetes, Cirrhosis, Alcoholhepatitis