A CHILDHOOD during which he suffered bullying led to mental health problems, heavy drinking and taking drugs for Vincent Goodman.
At just 20-years-old, Vincent admits his problems got out of hand – in fact they were starting to spiral out of control as the alcohol and drugs took hold.
“By the time I was 21, I was 25-stone, drinking a bottle of vodka a day along with pints of lager and taking drugs too,” recalled Vincent, who is telling his story in bid to inspire others to change their lives, like he has done.
Official statistics show that more than 12 per cent of men in the UK are suffering from a common mental health disorder, with men nearly three times more likely than women to become alcohol dependant.
Vincent knows what that is like and readily admits that it was hard, as a young man, to admit the problems that he was having.
“I was gaining weight and with that came depression and anxiety, which was solved at the time by drinking and drug-taking. The situation became very bad.
“Look back at that time I felt nothing about myself, in fact to put it bluntly, I thought I was scum, and that is how I was acting but there did not seem a way to get out of it at the time,” said Vincent.
However there was. Vincent eventually found his way to Alcoholics Anonymous and went on to find the best and healthiest drug of all – and that is keeping fit!
As his recovery progressed, he became a member of Skegness Pool & Fitness Suite and in ten years he has lost ten stone, dropped the drinking and drug-taking and completely changed his life around.
“The team here has really helped me and, in turn, the exercise has helped my weight, my self-confidence and my mental health. Any anxiety you have decreases, you enjoy yourself and feel calm – I cannot stress how exercise helps.
“There will be men out there who have experienced such extreme problems, but will have issues that can be helped a lot by some form of exercise and keeping fit,” added Vincent.