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I used to be an investment banker. I originally worked for Bear Stearns in New York and eventually became head of M&A at Creditanstalt Investment Bank in Europe. Today I run Life Works, a treatment centre for addictions including drugs and alcohol, compulsive behaviours including eating disorders, sexual compulsions, gambling and workaholism, as well as mental health issues such as depression and anxiety.

If you work in investment banking, no one ever says "Go home, you are working too much." A lot of bankers are geared towards workaholism from the outset. They’re the over-achievers at university, the people who are out to prove how successful they are, and who’ll pull all-nighters just to get a pat on the back. For a shame based drug addict and alcoholic in early recovery, this kind of environment suited me to a T. The adrenaline was a replacement drug as was the workaholism. If I were just really successful, people wouldn’t know what a low opinion I had of myself.

On average, I used to pull at least one all-nighter a month. The most I ever did were 54 hours straight on a hostile acquisition. That was two all-nighters. On the second day I quit eating because every time I ate anything it made me tired; I just drank coffee instead.

It struck me that I was out of control when my wife left me and took my kids. She said she never saw me and that when I was there I wasn’t emotionally present. We didn’t have BlackBerries back then, but if we did I’d have been on one. Instead, I just checked my emails all the time anyway.

After my wife left, the depression that I’d been holding back with workaholism kicked in, and everything started to collapse. I’d worked hard for 10 years to get what I thought was everything I wanted: a huge house next to Hyde Park, a beautiful wife, beautiful children and a good job.

I felt completely spiritually, physically and emotionally bankrupt. I resigned from my job a few months later and checked into treatment for a five-week residential stay, based on the advice of a therapist. It was expensive, but I could afford it. The problem was that I didn’t think it was worth it.

I now have a new partner and a close relationship with my children. I have found meaning in what I do and who I am and I don’t have the deep sense of shame that I had before.

There are other people in the same position I was in prior to getting help. Over the past six months, our enquiries department has seen an almost 20% increase in the number of people contacting us from the City. This has most likely been triggered by the current economic climate which has raised levels of anxiety and depression and led more people to turn to substances and behaviours to alleviate these feelings.

How can you tell if you’re in trouble? Go online and take the Beck depression or anxiety test. Watch your mood altering behaviours – use of drugs and/or alcohol, bingeing on food or spending. Resist the workaholic routine, take some time out with your family: it’s easier to pull back from the edge before you are staring over the precipice. And most importantly, if you do think you have a problem, seek help through self help groups, therapy or treatment.

Don Serratt is the founder and CEO of Life Works Community Ltd. For more information visit www.lifeworkscommunity.com or call 0800 081 0700.