Welcome to the 'This Is The North Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn.

In this episode, Alison is joined by Dominic Wills, who shares his experience of addiction and how recovery as a young person can look different to the stereotypes. Dominic explains how drugs were readily available through friends and later via social media, and how his use progressed from cannabis and MDMA to "anything" he could access. Despite continuing to achieve at school and maintaining an outward appearance of coping, he describes being rarely sober in school, the impact of ADHD, and how addiction fuelled deception, debt, and serious strains on family relationships, including fears for his safety and missing person reports.

Dominic reflects on seeking support from around the age of 14 through local authority drug and alcohol services and later adult services, but feeling that services often didn't reflect his situation as a young person who wasn't injecting or involved in the criminal justice system.

He describes how leaving school removed structure and led to escalation, and how in late 2019 he first encountered peer-led recovery models that showed him people, especially young people, can get clean and live well. After a severe spiral over Christmas 2019, he went to rehab for two months and says that's when he began taking recovery seriously.

The conversation also explores stigma, why visible recovery matters, and Dominic's view that alcohol and drugs are often treated inconsistently in policy and public attitudes.

He discusses decriminalisation vs legalisation, the risks of street drugs, and argues that criminalising personal possession is unproductive. Dominic shares how peer support and different recovery models helped him rebuild responsibility and trust, and what he would say to someone "functioning" but quietly struggling.

Dominic closes by describing what recovery has enabled for him as a young person, going to uni, living with students, DJing, going on holiday, and still spending time with friends in pubs, emphasising that recovery should be a tool to reclaim life rather than a boundary that keeps people trapped.

Timestamps:

00:00 Drugs at 14

00:33 A young voice changing the recovery narrative

01:07 How it started

01:43 Seeking it out and why he kept using

04:23 Functioning addiction

06:39 Trying to stop early and not being ready

08:08 ADHD and addiction

08:52 Why recovery felt impossible

10:14 Turning point: Peer-led recovery, rehab, and taking it seriously

11:04 When systems miss you: Age, privilege, and not being 'the right kind' of addict

12:25 Alcohol vs drugs: Generational divide and why the comparison matters

14:56 The damage to family & rebuilding trust through responsibility

16:59 What helped

19:07 Drug policy in the UK

28:19 Advice for 'functioning' addiction

29:39 Recovery

This conversation is a challenge to every assumption we hold about what addiction looks like, who it affects, and what recovery can be. Dominic is honest, sharp, and proof that young people deserve to be heard and not fitted into a system that wasn't built for them.

Host: Alison Dunn 

Guest: Dominic Wills

This podcast is produced by Purpose Made.

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