Undiagnosed ADHD. DJ culture. Ibiza. And decades of cocaine use hidden behind success.

In this episode of Coming Clean With Me, addiction specialist Elliott Wald sits down with Andy Manston, co-founder of Clockwork Orange, to unpack how a childhood shaped by undiagnosed ADHD and a lifelong relationship with music quietly evolved into decades of alcohol, speed, and cocaine use.

Andy grew up in Walthamstow, East London, an only child who struggled at school with concentration, impulsivity, and constant disruption — issues that were never recognised as ADHD at the time. Music became the one place his mind settled. From his father’s vinyl collection to learning guitar, mixing tapes on an Amstrad stereo, pirate radio, and early raves, music gave Andy structure long before it became a career.

That path eventually led to Clockwork Orange, which exploded in Ibiza during the 1990s. After appearing on Ibiza Uncovered, crowds doubled, money flowed, and the lifestyle intensified. Andy explains how alcohol and stimulant use — which began socially in rave culture — became embedded in DJ life, escalating as success and access increased.

After Clockwork Orange began to decline in the early 2000s, Andy explains how the loss of structure, income, and identity pushed his drug use into a more isolated phase — using at home, often alone, to escape financial stress and emotional collapse. By the time Clockwork relaunched in 2010, his business partner Danny Gould was clean and sober — but Andy was not.

The darkest period came during lockdown. Living alone, drinking wine, using cocaine, and sleeping irregularly, Andy describes severe cocaine-induced paranoia:
checking cupboards, scanning rooms, pacing stairs all night, listening for noises, driving around the block for hours convinced people were in the house.

Elliott Wald is a British psychologist, hypnosis expert, and behavioural analyst with over 30 years of clinical experience. He specialises exclusively in the treatment of cocaine addiction via nasal use (snorting) — a form of stimulant addiction that is frequently misunderstood and poorly treated by generic recovery models.

Alongside his formal clinical training, Elliott also brings direct lived experience. He maintained a daily cocaine addiction for 15 years, when he was publicly visible and appearing as an expert on national television. This combination of clinical expertise and first-hand experience allows Elliott to understand stimulant addiction from both a neuropsychological and human perspective — without ideology, moral judgement, or surface-level explanations.

Elliott’s work focuses on the psychological, behavioural, and neurobiological mechanisms that drive cocaine addiction, including dopamine dysregulation, compulsive habit loops, impulsivity, identity reinforcement, and relapse conditioning. His approach is highly individualised, evidence-informed, and fundamentally different from generic coaching, peer-led advice, or one-size-fits-all recovery programmes based on someone else’s story.

He has appeared as an addiction expert across major UK broadcasters including ITV, BBC, Sky News, and Sky Living, and is a published author in the field of addiction.

Over 90% of Elliott’s patients work with him online, meaning private, one-to-one treatment is accessible to clients across the United States and worldwide, without the need for travel.

If you’d like to watch a video explaining how Elliott’s one-to-one programme works, or to enquire about private treatment, send a WhatsApp:
UK: 07875 751960
International: +44 7875 751960

Find out more on Elliott's website:
https://www.hypnosis-expert.com/ADDICTION/

From Essex tower blocks to Ibiza superstardom — and into full-blown cocaine psychosis.

In this episode of Coming Clean With Me, addiction specialist Elliott Wald sits down with Danny Gould, co-founder of Clockwork Orange and one of the defining figures of British club culture in the 1990s.

Danny describes growing up in Essex with an alcoholic mother, no father present, long periods of neglect, poverty, and emotional absence. He explains being left alone from a young age, struggling at school, and learning to survive rather than being cared for — experiences he later connects to emotional dysregulation, impulsivity, and substance use.

As Clockwork Orange grew, so did the excess. Danny recounts taking the brand to Ibiza in 1994, the explosion in popularity after Ibiza Uncovered, record-breaking crowds at Space, and an environment of constant money, access, and seven-night-a-week partying.

He speaks in detail about cocaine-induced psychosis: hallucinations, extreme fear, carrying weapons, believing people were coming for him, and shared delusions with others during heavy use.

Danny uses a metaphor that later stayed with him: comparing cocaine addiction to Gollum’s ring — describing the obsession, possession, and fear of life without it.

Despite losing money, status, and stability, Danny explains he believed he would always drink and take drugs. The turning point came in 2003 after a period of intense emotional pain, alcohol use, and relapse attempts. He describes waking up one morning and knowing it was over.

Danny has now been 22 years clean and sober. He speaks about stopping alcohol first, later testing cocaine once and immediately recognising it no longer had a hold over him. He explains attending Alcoholics Anonymous, finding identification in the room, and using meetings as support rather than prescription.

Elliott Wald is a British psychologist, hypnosis expert, and behavioural analyst with over 30 years of clinical experience. He specialises exclusively in the treatment of cocaine addiction via nasal use (snorting) — a form of stimulant addiction that is frequently misunderstood and poorly treated by generic recovery models.

Alongside his formal clinical training, Elliott also brings direct lived experience. He maintained a daily cocaine addiction for 15 years, when he was publicly visible and appearing as an expert on national television. This combination of clinical expertise and first-hand experience allows Elliott to understand stimulant addiction from both a neuropsychological and human perspective — without ideology, moral judgement, or surface-level explanations.

Elliott’s work focuses on the psychological, behavioural, and neurobiological mechanisms that drive cocaine addiction, including dopamine dysregulation, compulsive habit loops, impulsivity, identity reinforcement, and relapse conditioning. His approach is highly individualised, evidence-informed, and fundamentally different from generic coaching, peer-led advice, or one-size-fits-all recovery programmes based on someone else’s story.

He has appeared as an addiction expert across major UK broadcasters including ITV, BBC, Sky News, and Sky Living, and is a published author in the field of addiction.

Over 90% of Elliott’s patients work with him online, meaning private, one-to-one treatment is accessible to clients across the United States and worldwide, without the need for travel.

If you’d like to watch a video explaining how Elliott’s one-to-one programme works, or to enquire about private treatment, send a WhatsApp:
UK: 07875 751960
International: +44 7875 751960

Find out more on Elliott's website:
https://www.hypnosis-expert.com/ADDICTION/

From council estate chaos to cocaine, gambling, paranoia — and finally, clarity.

In this episode of Coming Clean With Me, addiction specialist Elliott Wald sits down with Matthew Thomas, a gas engineer who spent over 20 years caught in cycles of cocaine addiction, alcohol misuse, and online slot gambling — before finally breaking free.

Matthew grew up on council estates in Southend-on-Sea, surrounded by drinking, cannabis, instability, and generational addiction. By 13 he was smoking cannabis, by 14 using ecstasy, and by 15 — while working the streets of London with his father he was introduced to cocaine.

What began as fitting in quickly became a binge-use pattern that dominated his adult life:

• Weekly (and sometimes multi-day) cocaine binges
• Alcohol as both gateway and accelerant
• Spending hundreds of pounds per week
• Gambling on online slots while using
• Mounting debt, relationship breakdown, and isolation

Matthew describes how his use progressed from social settings to using alone, often locked indoors, gambling online, drinking heavily, and experiencing severe paranoia. He recounts cocaine-induced psychosis — barricading doors, sitting at the top of the stairs armed with a hammer, convinced people were coming for him, despite no real threat.

The episode explores the neuropsychology of addiction, including:

• Dopamine overload from cocaine
• Gambling as a secondary dopamine loop
• Why paranoia intensifies as tolerance increases
• How addiction quietly dismantles relationships long before they officially end

Despite repeated attempts to stop over a 10-year period, Matthew explains why he couldn’t stay stopped — until one moment, 16 months ago, when something finally snapped. After a short binge involving cocaine, alcohol, and gambling away the last of his money, he reached a point of emotional exhaustion and clarity.

Elliott Wald is a British psychologist, hypnosis expert, and behavioural analyst with over 30 years of clinical experience. He specialises exclusively in the treatment of cocaine addiction via nasal use (snorting).

Alongside his formal clinical training, Elliott also brings direct lived experience. He maintained a daily cocaine addiction for 15 years, when he was publicly visible and appearing as an expert on national television. This combination of clinical expertise and first-hand experience allows Elliott to understand stimulant addiction from both a neuropsychological and human perspective — without ideology, moral judgement, or surface-level explanations.

Elliott’s work focuses on the psychological, behavioural, and neurobiological mechanisms that drive cocaine addiction, including dopamine dysregulation, compulsive habit loops, impulsivity, identity reinforcement, and relapse conditioning. His approach is highly individualised, evidence-informed, and fundamentally different from generic coaching, peer-led advice, or one-size-fits-all recovery programmes based on someone else’s story.

He has appeared as an addiction expert across major UK broadcasters including ITV, BBC, Sky News, and Sky Living, and is a published author in the field of addiction.

Over 90% of Elliott’s patients work with him online, meaning private, one-to-one treatment is accessible to clients across the United States and worldwide, without the need for travel.

If you’d like to watch a video explaining how Elliott’s one-to-one programme works, or to enquire about private treatment, send a WhatsApp:
UK: 07875 751960
International: +44 7875 751960

Find out more on Elliott's website:
https://www.hypnosis-expert.com/ADDICTION/