Mthandazo Gatya, who is celebrating 14 years pf sobriety since he made the decision to quit alcohol in 2010. Picture: Instagram
If you are doing the Ocsober challenge, and you are finding it impossible to finish, well here is an inspiring story of “Senzeni” hitmaker Mthandazo Gatya, who recently revealed that he has been sober for over 14 years now since he started drinking in Grade nine.
In an interview with Daily Sun, Gatya revealed that drinking started to become a habit for him.
“Drinking to me felt like a pattern I needed to break because I had a lot of people in my family who had lost everything because of alcohol. Including my dad.
“In Grade 9, I was already drinking heavily because there was a tavern at home and there was alcohol everywhere,” he said.
The 37-year-old singer shared that he quit alcohol willingly because he felt as though his alcohol abuse would determine his future, so he made a conscious decision to quit.
“At the time when I decided to quit, nothing bad had happened, it was just a conscious decision, and I was ready to go through with it,” he said.
Mthandazo further shared advice to other people who want to start their sobriety journey, “It looks different for everyone. But all I can say is alcohol can’t be your source of happiness. That’s where it goes wrong”.
Even though alcohol may make you feel relaxed, less anxious and more confident, it is still important to know when to stop abusing alcohol because chances are, you will end up sick.
According to a study by the US’ National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, drinking interferes with the brain’s communication pathways, making it hard to think clearly and move with coordination.
It damages the heart, causing heart problems such as stroke or high blood pressure.
Long term drinking also takes a huge toll on the liver, and can lead to liver inflammations such as cirrhosis, fibrosis and alcoholic hepatitis.
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