'I abused alcohol since I was 13 - there's a good reason why I struggled for so long'
'I abused alcohol since I was 13 - there's a good reason why I struggled for so long'
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Drinking to excess for decades - it was only when she was diagnosed with serious health issues that she realised it had gone too far. Suzi Payton, 49, began experimenting with alcohol at just 13, using it as a mechanism to fit in with her friends. Reflecting on her decades of drinking, the nearly 50-year-old comedian believes there's a genuine reason why it has been a particularly tough road for her. She's neurodivergent and believes her undiagnosed ADHD, autism and Tourette’s played a role in developing a dependency on alcohol. “I'm neurodivergent, and I didn't know that growing up,” Suzi remembered. “When I was 12, my friends would be smoking and drinking, and I thought ‘I'd never do that’. But by the age of about 13, I started discovering alcohol in the cupboards and sneaking it at family parties, and finding it very funny and getting rather drunk.
“I had undiagnosed ADHD and my brain was always searching for stimulation. And in the Western world, alcohol is the thing you do, isn't it? You go to parties, you drink. You go to a funeral, you drink. So it was just a natural progression, and I just did more and more binge drinking as a teenager. “As I got to my twenties, I was binge drinking, having two or three day hangovers, laughing it off, not really questioning it, and not really thinking about my poor health.” Suzi’s drinking continued throughout her life: though she didn’t drink every day, she would often binge drink on the weekends and have to deal with horrific hangovers. During the COVID pandemic, the drinking reached a crescendo, and she found herself reaching for a drink more often. A couple of years ago, Suzi began experiencing some digestive problems. After several test and scans, she was told terrifying health news that gave her the shake-up she needed. She had fatty liver, fatty pancreas, damage to her gut lining and chronic pancreatitis, and would need to take enzymes for the rest of her life. “That was the wake-up call when I stopped drinking,” Suzi, who is also an ADHD and autism speaker, revealed. “I'm so happy and proud that I've stopped, but it's been one of the hardest things I think I've ever had to do. “I put my health first. We haven't got long on this earth anyway, and I want to make the most of every second. I’m now 10 months alcohol-free.”.
