© Dominik Geiger
We need women like her. Verena Titze, who collapsed due to years of professional overload and alcohol addiction due to the stress-relieving “drink”, breaks with these taboo subjects and processes her experience as an author, podcaster, in university lectures and , finally, but not only , on the cabaret stage.
She was born in Stockerau, grew up in Hong Kong and the Weinviertel, studied journalism and theater studies in Vienna and Berlin and worked successfully as a journalist and PR manager for years – until the constant stress takes its toll. The diagnosis: burnout, combined with alcohol addiction. After months of depression and despair, she took the decisive step in 2020, entered inpatient treatment and went to therapy. In 2022, she dealt with this hard time in her book “Burnt.Out”, which is now used as a case study by several universities.
Their program based on this premiered in November 2022 to a sell-out audience in Vienna. Together with the well-known psychiatrist and addiction expert Professor Dr. The successful podcast “Musalek and Titze – In the Intoxication of Life” has been hosted by Michael Musalek since April 2023, which won 5th place out of 1,300 nominations at the Ö3 Podcast Award in March 2024. Verena Titze is a welcome guest in formats TV talk, like this year in “Meryn’s Talking Room” or in “Streitzeit”. She also holds talks with students at the Sigmund Freud University in Vienna twice, alcoholism and mental health.
Verena, you grew up in two different cultures, that is in Hong Kong, the city with the biggest skyscrapers in the world, and in the relaxed Weinviertel. How much of an impact did that have on you? Are two souls beating in your chest, so to speak?
Hong Kong had a big impact on me. Going to school with so many international children gave me a cosmopolitan approach that I still appreciate to this day. The Weinviertel and the school on the outskirts of Vienna were a big change for me. Today I take advantage of both sides. I love the mountains, nature, the beauty of the Weinviertel and I also feel very comfortable in big cities.
© Unsplash/Serhii Tyaglovsky
Stress, success and the “drink”. How quickly do you recognize when the Austrian relaxation drink becomes an addiction?
That’s the dangerous thing, you don’t recognize it. We often work a lot and otherwise we may have stress with family, partners or other duties and then we need a drink to relax. This works very well and quickly – but it can have harmful consequences. Then one glass becomes two, three or five. This process is often gradual and can quickly lead to problem drinking behaviour.
According to Statistics Austria, Austria drinks around twelve liters of pure alcohol every year. While men drink “openly”, there is a high rate of unreported drinking among women. There are psychologists who see emancipation as the cause of the female alcohol problem. Could you confirm that?
Women now have better access to alcohol than before. But that’s because we had fewer rights a few decades ago than we do today. This is not the problem. Alcoholism continues to be trivial and taboo.
It is difficult to find professional support in the form of therapy, rehabilitation places, etc. and it often costs a lot. That’s why men, like women, turn to alcohol to deal with worries, depression and anxiety. Alcohol has short-term relief. The alcohol industry then presents alcohol as the solution to everything, just as we see it presented in advertising. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a birthday, wedding, bereavement, alcohol should not be missing. Redemption is the last place we should start.
Was it difficult for you to break these taboos and go public aggressively?
At the beginning already. But I quickly realized that talking about it brought relief to many people. At the time, I felt very alone with my burnout and addiction. As a failure. With my projects I want to remove this loneliness from people.
They have been dry since 18 September 2020. Free date book for your life. .
What a wonderful date! I admit, I always get a little emotional around this time. Actually there is a life before and a life after September 18, 2020 for me.
In November 2023 you started your own TikTok channel, which quickly had around 10,000 followers, and your videos have already received over a million views and more than 100,000 likes. So to speak, from the sufferer to the addiction expert “on the air”…
I was very surprised! And then I realized pretty quickly that there are a lot of people out there who are trying to deal with their drinking, who have questions, who are ashamed. I am happy that I can help break down taboos and also help. For example, what steps can you take at the beginning…
© Dominik Geiger
You hold talks at Sigmund Freud University. The focus is on mental health. How open are the students to the topics of fire and alcoholism?
The young people deal with these matters very openly. Many questions are asked and there is a lot of interest. In general, I think the conscious use of alcohol should be an issue in schools as well. As a teenager, for example, I had no idea how dangerous alcohol could be. How great would be a topic that focuses on psychology! Learning how important it is to set boundaries, to pay attention to your own well-being, to build self-confidence.
Your new program “Successful into Burnout”, a cabaret crash course, will start on November 4th. What can we look forward to?
Here’s to a fun and exciting evening! The audience expects instructions on how to burn out, based on examples that I have experienced myself. The whole thing is understood of course with a wink. Topics like burnout and addiction are serious things – but that’s exactly why I bring a big pinch of humor and lightness to the stage. I want to make people laugh first, and then think a little (smile).
Your co-author is none other than Fritz Schindlecker, who wrote, among others, for Lukas Resetarits, Erwin Steinhauer and TV series such as “The Lotto Winners”. He also directs. How does your collaboration work?
It was a lottery pick that Fritz met me! I am new to the cabaret business and I can learn an incredible amount from it. We always meet at eye level and have a lot of fun writing and rehearsing together. The generations mix here and that adds a lot of benefits – in my opinion.
What does it mean to you to open people’s hearts with humor?
A great deal! Enough to worry about. And as important as the work of removing taboos and greater openness in society is for me, I want all visitors to leave my performance with a good feeling and a lot of warmth in their hearts.
Cabaret dates, the live podcast and information on www.verenatitze.com and www.ea.at
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