WATCH: Film on female addicts

An inspirational short documentary that follows the journey of eight recovering female addicts is now available for streaming on YouTube this Women’s Month.

The Sound of Drowning is produced by Durban filmmaker Tami Jacobs, who also features in the film, together with addictions counsellor, Anél Sherren.

The doccie is compelling, insightful and gentle, sharing the difficulties each woman faced and their determination to turn their lives around.

The idea came to Jacobs and Sherren when they noticed that the number of women who sought help for addiction was drastically lower than in the case of men. They made it their mission to encourage more women to speak out.

Whether it be a mother, daughter, sister or aunt from any background or culture, recovering from drugs, alcohol or even psychiatric medications, Jacobs hopes that by amplifying their voices, it will encourage other women to seek help.

“I lived in active addiction for 15 years before finding recovery and I know from my personal experience that it’s an extremely painful place to be,” Jacobs said.

“I was constantly depressed and suicide was a constant risk for me. When I found recovery, together with my sponsor and co-producer Anél, we noticed that the number of women who seek treatment and also manage to stay in recovery is drastically less than the number of men.

“We first wanted to find out why women don’t seek help and next, we wanted to send out a message of hope to any women suffering from the disease of addiction, that there is help available, and there are many people that can support them.”

For co-producer Sheeren, the purpose of the 30-minute documentary is to lift the lid off the stigma women face when attempting to get help for their addiction.

“We hope that this gentle message from these incredible women in this film will help motivate women to step forward,” she added.

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