As Dry July kicks off, Maree Maclean is launching her book, The No Bulls*** Guide to Getting Sober.
As Dry July kicks off, Maree Maclean is launching her book, The No Bulls*** Guide to Getting Sober.
As Dry July begins, a new book written from ‘inside the head of an alcoholic’ aims to help people get sober. Maree Maclean reveals what motivated her to help others battle alcoholism.
My brother lost his battle with the booze at 37 years old. He left behind a 5-year-old running after his coffin and me questioning the relationship with the glass of champagne in my hand at his funeral. Not coping at all with the grief of losing him and my father and husband, I walked into a psychologist’s office at 40. That was 9 years ago. I was trying to self-medicate depression with booze and, while I had never tried to take my life before, I was teetering on the edge.
I intended to try and pretend everything was okay to the psychologist. Not a chance in hell. Paora Joseph immediately knew that something was wrong. What was supposed to be a 20-minute appointment turned into 90. It turned into him refusing to let me wriggle out of the consulting chair and hightail it out the door. He told me that I was worth fighting for - that there was hope for me and to hang in there.
That day, he arranged Antabuse for me, a pill that makes you vomit if you drink on it, we made a plan to deal with the aftermath of my consolidated grief and he booked me in for two days’ time. I went home and wondered why on earth a medical professional would care that much - why would he believe in me so much; he said, “It’s my privilege to be allowed to help you.”
Maree Maclean with her new book, The No Bulls*** Guide to Getting Sober.
I was about to see that he meant it. With a lot of help from Paora, the excellent medical centre I’d walked into, and the steady support of a friend I was living with, I learnt to fight back and that depression and booze are a lethal combination. I now work for the little medical centre that helped me, Piritahi Hau Ora, helping others.
I couldn’t stop drinking on my own. My reaching out and the health professionals around me reaching in, and the practical tools I’ve collected along the way, inspired the writing of The No Bulls*** Guide to Getting Sober.
When the going got tough, I wanted a book I could pick up instead of a drink, open at any page and really enjoy for as little or as long as it took for my craving to pass. The No Bulls*** Guide to Getting Sober is the security blanket I wish I’d had (but didn’t) when I was getting sober.
There were some practical considerations too; it had to be pocket-sized; it had to fit in a guy’s back pocket or a chick’s handbag without drawing too much attention to itself and, most of all, it had to be relatable. It had to immediately appeal to the rebel inside and at the heart of any addict. My litmus test was that it made me laugh out loud.
I needed to take into account, too that the attention span of addicts in withdrawal isn’t too crash hot. I decided I’d better make The No Bulls*** Guide to Getting Sober into an audiobook too.
I am alive today because Paora Joseph and Piritahi Hau Ora chose to see me as a person, not a problem. This book intends to do the same for readers I haven’t even met yet.
An excerpt from Chapter One of The No Bulls*** Guide to Getting Sober:
Yawn … another book from a recovered author on beating the booze ... I’m getting ready to swipe left … Another hashtag on social media with the words #sobercurious or #soberissexy and I’m going to shove someone’s turmeric latte down their throat …
Well, here’s the thing my little drunken desperado - you picked up, purchased, or were given this book. Most likely, because at this point in your drinking career you’ve:
1) Become sick and tired of feeling sick and tired
2) Your family members love you but don’t like you anymore
3) You thought you might find a shortcut that would tell you how to drink like a normal person
Let me deal with the short cutters first so I don’t waste any more of your time. If you are here looking for a way to control your drinking this book is not for you. If you’re still insistent that you’ll find a way to control this, after years of not being able to, I’m not going to argue, so, goodbye, see ya. Have a good one.
This book is not for those of you who are making the lives of the people that love you a living hell either. If someone you love handed this book to you instead of waving it in front of your face and then bopping you on the head with it, you’re lucky. And while there’s lots I could say to you – until you’re ready, what’s the point? The World Health Organisation has something to say about you though and that’s, when you stop drinking six other people close to you are very glad you did because their lives improve significantly.
Nope, I’m only interested in those of you who are slowly realising you could be up s*** creek without a paddle when it comes to your drinking. Hands up if you are:
And guess what? It’s okay to be scared that while you might be done with drinking, drinking doesn’t seem to be done with you. Indeed. Terrifying, isn’t it?
Maree Maclean is launching The No Bulls*** Guide to Getting Sober at the Ostend markets, Waiheke Island to kick off Dry July, on Saturday, July 1.
The No Bulls*** Guide to Getting Sober is available as an e-book for less than a cup of coffee for $4.99, an audiobook for $14.99, and as a paperback for $29.99. All formats are available from www.mareemaclean.com. The audiobook is sold by Audible and Amazon sells the e-book. Barnes and Noble sells both the audiobook and paperback worldwide, and the paperback is sold by Paper Plus & Palm Beach Store on Waiheke Island.
