Case study

Wasted

The film "Wasted" was produced by M6 Theatre in conjunction with Early Break. Early Break clients were instrumental in the production of the film and starred in it. The film is a powerful play about peer jealousies and the serious consequences of alcohol use and knife crime. Our aim is to market the film as a teaching and discussion tool for use in schools and other youth settings.

This case study was recently written by a young person working with Early Break, she describes her journey:

"I joined Early Break when I was about 12. I finally confessed to a teacher that I was always taking drugs and that’s why I was flaking out and getting hyper. They sent me to a mentor in the school who said she would ring someone who had more knowledge in this area.

A few days later I was told someone from Early Break was going to come and see me that day. As I went and sat down in the private room a man came in, he introduced himself and said he was here for whatever I needed. I expected some idiot who was just gonna lecture me but he was really easy to talk to. He just asked me a few things like what I took and did I know in myself why I took them. He taught me a lot about what was actually in drugs and ways of cutting down because the amount I was taking was really high.

As time went on he came to see me once a week, sometimes twice a week when I needed it. Sometimes I would just ring him up and tell him my head was in a mess and I just needed to speak to someone. He’d come and see me as soon as possible and make everything seem not
as bad.

He introduced ‘Alts’ to me, which was boxing and other therapies run by Early Break, to get me interested in something besides drugs. It was really good. I met loads of other people, a lot of which were my own age and were in the same place I was. It helped me to know that I wasn’t the only one my age who was bad on drugs. I also met a lot of staff, they were all like my worker, easy to talk to
and supportive.

As I got older my life got really bad. My mum kicked me out and I was drinking and taking drugs more than ever. I had to go to a Social Services meeting and I had no-one to take me so my worker came with me and in the end he gave me a lift to where I was going to stop. Having someone that will help you at a time when you feel so alone is something I will always appreciate my worker and Early Break for.

My worker carried on seeing me and I kept going to the ‘Alts’ and in the end I gave up drugs and drinking, it was the best thing I ever did. My life is so much better for it and I couldn’t have done it without Early Break."