OLDS — Local addictions counsellor Jody Tom is proof you can successfully battle addictions and depression.
She’s one of the speakers for The Conversation Has To Happen, the local annual conference for people affected by suicide and depression.
In previous years, that conference has been a one-day affair, but due to COVID-19 pandemic protocols, it’s being held on the radio and in The Albertan from Nov. 16-27.
During that period, various speakers will address listeners on local radio station 96.5 CKFM and Rock 104.5 after the 10 a.m. news. Their stories will also be reported in the Albertan.
Tomm, 42, was addicted to drugs and alcohol for years. She then became sober, only to relapse in 2015.
But Tomm has been sober since then and says life is now good.
She is now an addictions counsellor with the addiction and mental health unit of Alberta Health Services (AHS) in Olds and he has lived in the community for the last couple of years.
Tomm was born and raised in Calgary.
“I think I was 13 or 14 the first time I was diagnosed with depression and put on meds,” she says.
Tomm admits she went through some “pretty rebellious teen years.”
“My poor parents – (I) put them through the wringer and experimented a lot with drugs and alcohol," Tomm says.
She says she “drank heavily” between about age 18 and 25 before eventually sobering up.
At age 29, Tomm enrolled in the University of Lethbridge and earned a bachelor of health sciences degree specializing in addictions counseling.
In 2008 she began working in the crisis mental health field with the Canadian Mental Health Association.
In 2011, she got a job as an addictions counselor at a residential treatment centre.
However, in 2015 Tomm relapsed after what she describes as “an assault, a traumatic incident.” She went on a leave of absence to battle that relapse.
At the end of that year, Tomm became pregnant and that really strengthened her resolve to turn her life around. She gave birth to Zachary Tomm, now four years old.
“I’ve worked hard to get where I am again and rebuild my life, but things are – there's hope, right," she said.
Tomm says she experienced some very dark times.
"There were many times where I just wanted to end my life because things were so overwhelming and chaotic.”
But she realized that if she had given into those dark feelings, "my son wouldn’t be here and I wouldn’t be here trying to help other people.”
“And that’s all I want to do, is just help people figure out how they can make their lives better,” she says.
Tomm says because she too was an addict and alcoholic and because of post-secondary education she's received, she can relate to her clients and help them.
“I have the education and that knowledge, but I also have the personal experience as well, so I know what it feels like,” Tomm says.
“I know what it feels like to have those physical cravings, where it feels like nothing will alleviate that except for the next time I can get my hands on drugs, right? Like that desperation almost, at certain points.”
Tomm says she’s living proof that people can successfully battle depression and addiction.
“When you’re in the midst of it, it was like, ‘I can’t go on another day.’ But we don't' know what the future holds, so yeah, I have a good life right now,” Tomm says.
“It’s not all easy. I mess up or I have cravings. But I’m happy. I’m productive. People can change, right? I guess that’s what I want people to know.”
