Peter, 49

The businessman who no longer had to perform

Then

Peter used cocaine to get through long days. He was successful, but slept badly and drank to calm down again. He had heart palpitations and ignored them. He mostly saw his kids on Sundays, when he was tired and irritable.

The turning point

During an argument his sixteen-year-old son said: you're never really here. That sentence stuck. Peter took three months of leave and went through a treatment program. The first thing he learned was that he didn't always have to perform.

Now

Peter has been clean for three years. He works four days a week and coaches his son's soccer team. He says: I thought I needed it to be successful. Now I'm less busy, and richer in every way.

“What you give up comes back as time and attention for the people around you.”

The people in these stories are fictional. Their experiences are based on what many people in recovery go through.

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