06/11/2025
Thank you for sharing your story!
Stéphanie Bélanger is 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 and four years 𝘀𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 today because someone respectfully called out her lies.
That someone was Dr. Adam Newman.
Bélanger was referred to addiction specialist Dr. Newman after being diagnosed by a gastrointestinal (GI) specialist with failing kidneys and liver.
She didn’t know it yet, but this was the lifeline she needed.
When the GI doctor gave her a year to live if she didn’t stop drinking, she was still trying to downplay her alcohol consumption, making it seem like just a couple of glasses of w**e a day. In reality, she was also drinking much more than twice that amount of hard liquor.
Shame is a powerful emotion often experienced by those living with addiction. It can hinder open communication and prevent them from seeking help, among many other negative impacts.
It was six months and many failed attempts to cut down on drinking on her own before Bélanger went to see Dr. Newman, a member of Kingston Health Sciences Centre’s (KHSC) Substance Treatment And Rehabilitation Team (START).
Recognizing where she was at in her off-and-on, 35-year struggle with alcohol use, Dr. Newman began to challenge her ideas about her addiction.
“Not in these exact words, he told me I was not the façade I was putting up for my family, friends and colleagues,” says Bélanger. No one other than her two medical specialists knew about her addiction. But even they didn’t know the full extent of her drinking.
To start, Dr. Newman suggested she begin with Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), and at their next appointment, he prescribed medication to help with alcohol withdrawal as she continued to try to cut back.
Attending online AA meetings helped Bélanger get used to hearing people admit to addiction. “It was strange for me to listen to people say they were alcoholics without crying.”
𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁
“It wasn’t until our third meeting that I gave him an accurate account of my daily alcohol consumption so he could help me better manage my addiction.”
Dr. Newman was floored by the amount and frequency. He told her that even though she wasn’t feeling the effects of alcohol, he had to report her if she intended to drive her car.
“When I panicked about my family finding out, Dr. Newman reminded me that the person I had become was already not the mother, wife, colleague or friend I wanted to be. I vowed right there and then to never drink again. I haven’t had a drink since.”
Within a few days of that promise she started to experience symptoms of wet brain (Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome), a rare, life-threatening brain disorder caused by a vitamin B1 deficiency, mostly commonly due to alcohol misuse.
“It was only then that I admitted my problem to my husband.”
And, it was her husband who drove her to the KHSC Emergency Department when her condition, which included confusion and the inability to see and walk, went from bad to worse.
Seriously ill and admitted to the hospital, Bélanger was once again supported by START and Dr. Newman.
After her close call with, and full recovery from, wet brain, her next challenge was an eating disorder that may have developed, like addiction, as a coping mechanism for psychological pain associated with multiple traumatic experiences stemming from childhood.
“I couldn’t eat and I felt like I wanted to die.”
Months spent in residential and outpatient eating disorder treatment programs and starting psychotherapy helped her continue along her recovery journey, and become the person she wants to be.
‘𝗜’𝗺 𝗮 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀’
“Dr. Newman has always been blunt with me, which I needed because I was lost in my faulty thought patterns. Being respectful and kind, never judgmental, he helped me believe I’m a human being with options. For him, it’s never too late for someone to choose to survive addiction and he knows exactly what people need to hear.
“He saved my life. I am here, helping others struggling with addiction because 𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.”
Two years ago, Bélanger obtained a certification in addiction from Laval University. She already has a PhD in Literature and is a professor at the Royal Military College of Canada. A military veteran herself, she co-founded the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research and hopes to support veterans who suffer from addiction and mental health challenges.
She also now works, as needed, as an addiction-care worker at KHSC’s Detox Centre.
“I love this job, it’s my way of giving back. It’s my calling, and caring for others in this way helps me care for myself. If I can show compassion to someone with similar struggles, I can do the same for myself.
“I see people arrive at the front door and I know that pain—it’s not natural, people don’t choose that.
“I help them get the support they need. I also clean their living spaces and make meals.
“They deserve to heal and to see people caring for them.”
