Dale was working 80 hours a week – and spending $800 on drugs to cope

As a child Dale Cranswick dreamed of a career as a chef, so when he was offered his first opportunity in the hospitality industry, he never hesitated for a second.

But with the demands of long hours and subsequent sleep difficulties, a sense of pressure soon started to mount and a daily escape snowballed into a drug dependency which at its peak cost him $800 a week.

“I was obsessed with cooking, I had dreams to be a chef,” the Perth resident said.

“Ready Steady Cook was my favourite show but when I got into hospitality, it was more like working in Gordon Ramsay’s kitchen.”

Cranswick found himself in the thick of 80-hour weeks with “Sundays off every now and then”.

The career he once dreamed about left him in a state of disillusionment.

“It was stressful, there was no creativity that came with it, you weren’t actually able to enjoy it,” he said.

He turned to marijuana, dexamphetamine, MDMA and alcohol for about six years to get through his days.

“When I was in high school I was against drugs,” he said.

“I got into the hospitality industry and most chefs were on drugs to cope with the stress.”

Cranswick eventually went to his GP for help, but he was instead prescribed with more medication, which he said numbed his emotions but did little to help kick his habit.

The stress of the years-long struggle culminated in a breakdown, where Cranswick one day found himself crying in the kitchen, which was the start of a turning point in his life.

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

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

Further to this, Corser said about 90 per cent of the people she treats at her rehabilitation clinic are taking prescription drugs to help with alcohol and drug dependence.

She said this hindered their recovery by masking emotional and mental factors that fuel the addiction and caused a new wave of people struggling to rehabilitate.

“There’s a big focus on solving alcohol addiction by using another drug, but that’s really just a band aid solution,” Corser said.

“Instead we need to highlight the importance of addressing the mental and emotional factors which are contributing to the addiction, or problematic use, in the first place.”

One-in-three people have admitted to consuming alcohol at risky levels last year, according to the latest statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

The statistics also show more than 131,000 Australians sought treatment services for drugs and alcohol in the 2022-2023 financial year.

Corser said people battling addiction will often start by seeking help from their GP, who will often recommend taking oral medication that taints the taste of alcohol.

“I believe a purely medical approach to resolving an emotional and mental problem gives people the false hope that a pill will fix all of their problems,” she said.

“The truth is the issues are still there, they’re just being pushed down.”

Cranswick is now working towards a graduate degree in psychology with the aim to pursue his masters.

While he is now spending time in the kitchen as a hobby, his new professional goal is to help people along their recovery journeys and reduce the stigma of addiction.

“Going from rock bottom to getting to uni, it was a very big year and a year that I needed,” he said.