Vicky Pattison has bravely opened up about her dads ‘secret illness’ and revealed what life is like being a child of an alcoholic.
The former Geordie Shore star has taken to Instagram to help spread awareness of the effects of alcoholism on family members and to break the stigma.
Vicky posted a photo of herself standing outside the House of Parliament to her 5.2M followers and explained in the caption, “My name is Vicky Pattison & I'm the child of an alcoholic”.
“For years, my family kept my dad's illness a secret- I learnt from a young age that we weren't to talk about what was happening inside our home with anyone else”.
“I didn't have to be told specifically it was just something I knew- maybe I just followed my mam's lead but I knew it was our secret & people wouldn't understand if they knew”.
“But that's the problem, people are never going to understand this illness if we keep hiding it away & expecting it to rest solely on the shoulders of children. The only way to break down the stigma of addiction & alcoholism is by giving it more sunlight, more candour & less judgement”.
“I spent so many years not understanding my dads illness- going through this horrendous cycle of being mad at him, feeling guilt, feeling like I was somehow to blame, feeling devastated that my dad just didn't love me enough to stop drinking”.
The former reality TV star then spoke about the charity Nacoa- National Association for Children of Alcoholics and revealed the worrying ways children of alcoholics can be affected.
These include how they are, “Six times more likely to witness domestic violence” and are, “Twice as likely to develop alcoholism or addiction”.
Vicky continued, “Children need a safe space to talk about what they're going through, they need someone to help them navigate this incredible sensitive & difficult time. The families of alcoholics need help or this disease will just be allowed to breed & destroy even more lives”.
“Today i delivered this speech at the Houses of Parliament alongside other patrons of @nacoauk & I will continue to try & raise awareness & funding for this amazing charity until no child feels alone”.
Many fans rushed to the comments to share their support with Vicky for speaking out on such a difficult topic.
One fan wrote, “Such a powerful message!! Well done on trying to raise awareness on this killer disease! Especially for children of alcoholics”.
“Thank you for being a voice for us and the children affected today xx”, penned a second fan.
A third added, “Your family must be so proud of you being so brave and open, it's fantastic you're using your platform to help others”.
Pattison has previously shared details of her dad’s alcoholism in her Channel 4 documentary last year, Vicky Pattison: My Dad, Alcohol and Me.
