FALLING OUT OF LINE AND INTO THE DRINK –

July 21, 2021 – “He said that there was a suicide attempt involved in that blackout,” Kreitz said on the podcasts. “I had no memory of it, which is really what scared me. Almost losing my life was a big wake-up call for me.”

He had suicidal thoughts in the past only when he drank, but never acted on them before that moment. Kreitz said his struggle with alcohol isn’t tied to a traumatic event in combat. His first sip of alcohol was when he was 16, and he blacked out. Throughout college, he said, alcohol always seemed to be around and he thought it was part of the college experience. He continued to drink at family events and thought drinking was a part of normal life, even as he joined the Army in 2001.Kreitz said his alcoholism stemmed more from a behavioral health aspect. He was a perfectionist and struggled with self-doubt. He strived for personal perfection, but by 2012, he said he was routinely drinking to the point of blacking out.

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