Dale worked 80 hours a week – and spent $800 on drugs to cope

As a child Dale Cranswick dreamed of a career as a chef, so when he was given his first chance in the hospitality industry, he didn’t hesitate for a second.

But due to the demands of long hours and subsequent sleep problems, feelings of stress soon began to mount and the daily escape turned into a drug addiction at its peak. which cost him $800 a week.

“I was busy cooking, I had dreams of being a chef,” said the Perth resident.

“Ready for Steady Cook it was my favorite show, but when I started hosting, it was like working in Gordon Ramsay’s kitchen.

Cranswick found himself in the midst of many 80-hour weeks with “a Sunday off every now and then”.

The job he once dreamed of left him disappointed.

“It was stressful, there was no creativity that came with it, you couldn’t really enjoy it,” he said.

He turned to marijuana, dexamphetamine, MDMA and alcohol for nearly six years to survive.

He says: “When I was in high school I was against drugs.

“I went into the hospitality industry and a lot of chefs were using drugs to deal with depression.”

Cranswick eventually went to her doctor for help, but she was prescribed a lot of medication, which she said depressed her mood but did nothing to help her kick the habit.

The stress of years of war led to a breakdown, where Cranswick one day found himself crying in the kitchen, the beginning of a major change in his life.

“I moved back in with my parents, I started seeing a psychologist and by doing that I got myself into rehab,” he said.

The now 30-year-old Cranswick found a way out of this cycle and was accepted into university to study psychology and addiction.

In addition, Corser said that about 90 percent of the people he treats at his rehabilitation clinic use prescription drugs to help with alcohol and drug addiction.

He said this has hindered their recovery by hiding the emotional and mental factors that fuel addiction and creating a new wave of people struggling to recover.

“There’s a lot of intent to solve addiction by using another drug, but it’s really a group-aid solution,” Corser said.

“Instead, we need to emphasize the importance of addressing the psychological and emotional conditions that contribute to addiction, or difficult use, in the first place.”

One in three people have admitted to dangerous levels of drinking in the past year, according to the latest statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

Statistics also show that more than 131,000 Australians sought drug and alcohol treatment services in the 2022-2023 financial year.

Corser said people struggling with alcoholism would often first seek help from their GP, who would often recommend taking oral medicines that neutralize the taste of alcohol.

“I believe that a medical-only approach to solving emotional and psychological problems gives people the false hope that a pill will fix all of their problems,” he said.

“The reality is that the issues are still there, they are being pushed down.”

Cranswick is currently working toward a master’s degree in psychology with the goal of pursuing his master’s.

Although she now spends time in the kitchen as a hobby, her new professional goal is to help people on their journeys to recovery and reduce the stigma of addiction.

He said: “From the floor to going to Uni, it was a really big year and a year that I needed.”