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March 14, 2026 \u2014 5:59am<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n The 2011 Brisbane floods were the catalyst for Greg Stegman\u2019s spiral into alcoholism<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a lovely home on the river in Kenmore,\u201d Stegman, 75, said. \u201cOur house flooded, and we realised afterwards that we didn\u2019t have flood insurance.\u201d<\/p>\n It cost nearly $300,000 to repair the property, during which time Stegman stayed in the house working, while his wife went to live with family. That\u2019s when he started drinking heavily.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of drinking half a bottle of wine at night, I was drinking two bottles,\u201d he said. \u201cThis continued when I retired in 2014.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just became part of my lifestyle that I drink two bottles of wine because one was never enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Prompted by declining mental health, Stegman considered Alcoholics Anonymous and tried therapy<\/a> for his drinking, but neither fit. Then a home detox caught his attention.<\/p>\n \u201cI was just trying everything I could to stop drinking,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis went on for a couple of years until I saw an ad for Clean Slate.\u201d<\/p>\n Clean Slate is a GP-led<\/a> program providing in-home medical detox services for people withdrawing from alcohol.<\/p>\n It was co-founded in 2020 by addiction medicine specialist Dr Chris Davis who saw a need for more accessible drug and alcohol treatments.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cIt takes an average 18 years for someone with alcohol use disorder to ask for help, and only one in five people ever ask for help when they\u2019re drinking,\u201d Davis says.<\/p>\n Medically supported<\/a> services such as rehabilitation<\/a> and in-patient hospital programs can be highly effective for chronic alcohol users, and are necessary for people at risk of withdrawal seizures.<\/p>\n But Davis says for some drinkers, such intensive treatments can be stigmatising. \u201cPeople are worried [if they ask for help] they\u2019re going to be called an alcoholic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd so they just stay silent until they hit crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n Crisis point, Davis said, strains hospital services<\/a>, with people admitted following an emergency presentation at a higher chance of relapse.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s this revolving door that we see all the time, and it\u2019s heartbreaking because it\u2019s not the fault of the person, it\u2019s the fault of the system,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Alcohol-related hospitalisations across Brisbane\u2019s Metro North and Metro South hospitals have remained steady over the last five years, with more than 4900 hospitalisations in 2025.<\/p>\n Figures include conditions such as toxic effect of alcohol, gastritis, alcoholic liver disease, mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol use and chronic pancreatitis.<\/p>\n Related Article Patients admitted to hospital for inpatient withdrawal treatment have likewise remained steady, with 473 admissions last year, with an average daily cost of $1650.<\/p>\n Queensland Network of Alcohol and Other Drug Agencies (QNADA<\/a>) chief executive Rebecca Lang said different treatments work for different people, but notes there is a shortage of publicly funded programs.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the absence of a plan to grow our publicly funded system to be able to meet the need, it remains the case that enterprising folks will set up models that work within the current system,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Lang said Clean Slate can be effective for people at a geographical disadvantage, and those who don\u2019t need hospital supervision to withdraw from alcohol.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people are dependent, and need support to change that, but don\u2019t need [hospitalisation],\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Chris Gimpel\u2019s drinking habits were kick-started by a move to London and a high-pressure banking career in his early twenties. <\/p>\n \u201cI went straight into a workplace culture of being at the pub every day for lunch to meet the team,\u201d Gimpel, now 42, said.<\/p>\n \u201cBack then [the corporate world] was just all type A\u2019s. If you weren\u2019t running hard and playing hard, you were left behind.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cAlcohol was what I leaned on to fit in.\u201d<\/p>\n At the height of his drinking, Gimpel was consuming around 20 standard drinks a day. He decided to seek help during COVID, after his family became aware of his daily routine.<\/p>\n \u201cThe tipping point was someone actually seeing what it had been like behind closed doors for me for some time,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Gimpel\u2019s detox through Clean Slate began with the goal of taking a three-month break from alcohol.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cI was too scared to say I would never drink again,\u201d he said. \u201cIf someone had told me you\u2019ve got to give up for the rest of your life, I would have just kept delaying [treatment].\u201d<\/p>\n Stegman said he started his detox with the hope of moderating his drinking: \u201cBut I knew I had this taste for alcohol and that it was pointless thinking that I could actually be in charge of my own destiny whilst still having a couple of drinks a day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Gimpel made 101 days without alcohol before relapsing. But April will be three years since his last drink.<\/p>\n Stegman marked two years in February.<\/p>\n An evaluation of Clean Slate\u2019s in-home service by the University of Sydney<\/a> found the program offered a \u201cfeasible model\u201d and was \u201chighly adoptable\u201d, with an 82 per cent completion rate.<\/p>\n Davis said their next goal is to secure federal funding to broaden subsidised access, with a pre-budget submission proposing a \u2018National Hospital Avoidance Program\u2019.<\/p>\n Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Brisbane](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/43f3db6e91fd824e36a9380de85c885465295bbfd584f90292d34212414d5f76.jpeg\")
Brisbane retiree Greg Stegman started drinking heavily after the 2011 floods destroyed his Kenmore home.<\/p>\n![\"When](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/d980994c35c2ea57f756d6723334466c3e4b84e5.jpeg\")
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Greg Stegman said he was trying everything he could to stop drinking.<\/p>\n![\"Paul](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/8a6fe66c97b67ad2c665f8e9724bb0b42866fb58.jpeg\")
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A high-powered corporate banking career kick-started Brisbane resident Chris Gimpel\u2019s problematic drinking in his early twenties.<\/p>\n![\"Murarrie-Cannon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/cfcdad5330cdb57e553de9cdd5d86f5a90484d9c91e33d4d45c3fddbcd0f377d.jpeg\")
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