Living Free

Maya grew up with an active alcoholic dad and her parents divorced when she was in her early teens. Her mum was in Al-Anon for a few years but Maya thought that without her father around that her life would improve. Maya’s low self-esteem caused her to try and over achieve and whilst recovering from a dancing injury she found spirituality helped her connect. Some years later as relationships conti...

Jane grew up in a dysfunctional family, mum was a drinker and dad was a sober alcoholic who they split up before she was 10 years old.  Jane spent time with each parent, was introduced to Al-Anon and Alateen by her dad but that wasn’t for her. She left home around 16yo and got involved with alcohol and drugs and after years of crazy living in the local music scene eventually found her way into Alc...

Content Warning ** This podcast includes mention of attempted suicide.**Mike and Tim both grew up in normal families but suffered dislocation as their families had to move about for work or safety. Mike grew up in a war-torn region of Europe and was forced to escape his native country as a refugee, first to Germany and then to Australia. In each move he was considered an outsider and bullied and t...

Content Warning This podcast contains comments about suicidal thoughts and mental health/illness that may be distressing to some listeners. If this raises questions or causes distress please call Lifeline (13 11 14) or Beyond Blue (1300 224 636) *Suicidal Thoughts & Mental Health* contactSue had a great family and was good academically at school but had a bit of a behaviour problem. She started dr...

Christine grew up in a pretty normal family but found out that her uncle was an alcoholic and her aunt was in Al-Anon Family Groups. She had a normal teenage life and met and married her husband in her early twenties. His drinking was no different to Christine’s other friends and nothing suggested that he would become an alcoholic.  With two toddlers she found that her husband’s drinking was becom...

Emma grew up with a dad who was a sailor and absent for long periods. Her siblings were pretty successful but she felt like she didn’t fit in and was picked on as a kid.  Emma’s sister started her drinking as an 8 year old and she progressed to pot at 13 and drugs at 15.  A friend gave her heroin at 17 to lose weight and she was hooked from the start. Emma got involved in violent relationships and...

Kestrel and Kate both grew up with an alcoholic parent in a fairly dysfunctional household, with an absent dad and an angry brother. Kestrel started drinking from 12 year old trying to get the fun that she felt she was missing out on in life. She went on to be a party-girl through her late teens and 20’s until it started to interfere with work and she was made redundant. Unable to quit drinking Ke...

Rachael is a compulsive gambler who has managed to overcome her obsession with the help of Gamblers Anonymous.  Growing up in an emotionally starved family, with plenty of isms, she felt lonely and started using drugs and alcohol before moving on to solitary gambling to fill the void. Rachael found it easy to gamble on the pokies and TAB as her work in hospitality gave her with plenty of opportuni...

Yvonne’s dad was a heavy drinker who was pretty angry and controlled the family but she didn’t recognise it as alcoholism till later in life.  After her son was born her relationship with her partner deteriorated and with help from a psychologist found Al-Anon Family Groups. Yvonne went to Al-Anon for over 4 years before leaving her partner and moving interstate to live.  Separated from the drinki...

Sally had a love of sugar from the start but didn’t really start to put on weight till she was around 14 years old. She was teased by her brother and other boys at school and was jealous of the thin girls. Around 15 Sally changed schools and got into drugs, alcohol and boys and lost weight. At 28 she realized that alcohol was a problem for her as she had little control and went into Alcoholics Ano...

Sara grew up with a step-dad who was an alcoholic and she didn’t really like being at home and felt like she didn’t belong. She was sexually abused as a child and teenager before going into foster care in her mid-teens. Sara started using alcohol when she was around 11 years old, then marijuana at 12 and eventually ice at 15. She ran away from foster care repeatedly, was homeless for about 14 year...

Cheryl and Trish both grew up in families with an alcoholic parent that they feared and didn’t start drinking till their late teens or early twenties. Neither felt that they fitted-in as children and drinking was a means of achieving that social inclusion. Cheryl and Trish both married in their early 20’s and although vowing never to be like their alcoholic parent they soon progressed to daily dri...

Simon and Ian are compulsive gamblers but have managed to overcome their obsession with the help of Gamblers Anonymous.  Although years apart in age they both started gambling compulsively in their mid-teens and continued gambling in TABs and other venues, stealing money and lying to workmates, family and friends before they sought help through GA. Ian hasn’t gambled for over 21 years and Simon fo...

Carol grew up with an alcoholic dad and her two brothers and sister went on to become alcoholics. She became aware of the effects of alcoholism in her teens and suffered low self-esteem and was withdrawn from a very early age. Carol was married to a gambler for over 25 years, and then fell into a relationship with an alcoholic that turned violent. She went to Al-Anon Family Groups to get her partn...

For Marcus, life was pretty interesting from the start, getting in to trouble at school and probably having undiagnosed ADHD. He was disconnected and obsessive from around 9 years old, stealing money to buy basketball cards and play video games. Marcus was always looking for excitement and started smoking weed in year 7, eventually leaving school in year 9. He got involved in crime to fund his dru...

Jenny always felt like a bit of a loner as she moved schools often and her parents didn’t have much money. Drinking started in her mid-teens as she tried to fit in with her peers at a pre-party before a local disco and it transformed her from shy to bullet-proof. In year 11 she drank to oblivion and sought out venues where drink was available.  Jenny started work, met her future husband while drun...

Daniel grew up with an alcoholic dad and suffered low self-esteem and anxiety from a very early age. He was very confused by the alcoholic’s behaviour and saw the desperation in his mum as she tried to control the drinking. Dan was the youngest of 6 children and felt pressured to leave school and go to work in his mid-teens. He worked really hard but started taking anti-depressants and seeing coun...

Michael and Sandi share their recovery stories, each growing up in families affected by alcoholism and where their parents split-up early. They initially tasted alcohol in their pre-teens before moving on to drinking and smoking weed in their early teens. For Michael, life got worse pretty quickly as he started chroming when his dad remarried and he left school at 15 years old and worked. He becam...

Lisa realised very early on that a little bit of alcohol made her feel better but it was when she experienced it at a teenage party that it really hit the spot. It reduced her anxiety and Lisa no longer felt like an outsider but connected to the world. By 16 years old Lisa was a wayward teenager and drinking more frequently, she left home, left school and started to work and lived with her grandmo...

Today’s guests are DAVID, a member of Alcoholics Anonymous; YVONNE, a member of Gamblers Anonymous and DREW, a member of Narcotics Anonymous, together with Astrid. The Radiothon theme this year is Fight for your Mic! That pretty much sums up LIVING FREE – by sharing recovery stories we’re talking about changing lives for alcoholics, gamblers and food and drug addicts, and their families. Remember,...

Sylvia grew up in a relatively poor farming family that avoided alcohol and she met and married a farmer when she was in her early twenties. She soon had three children and her husband’s drinking wasn’t a problem until the children left home. Sylvia’s marriage then slowly deteriorated and a tennis friend suggested that she go to Al-Anon Family Groups to get some help. She now understood how the fa...

Judy and Colin outline the progress of the Trial Medically Supervised Injecting Centre development and how the residents group have continued to advocate for its acceptance and successful implementation in July 2018.Residents for Victoria Street Drug Solutions (RVSDS) is a group of City of Yarra residents from North Richmond and Abbotsford, who are directly and personally affected by the high leve...

John and Dave share their recovery stories, each growing up in a loving family they initially started drinking in their early teens before moving on to smoking weed then onto serious drugs. For John, life got worse pretty quickly as he was kicked out of home at 16 years old and as a homeless street kid joined a gang and started a life of drug use and crime, leading to youth detention. Homeless and...

Geoff was born in Scotland and grew up with an alcoholic dad and with friends that drank heavily.  He started drinking around 15 years old and was able to get into pubs underage. Geoff managed to get through university and into work while maintaining a heavy drinking load.  Problems came when married with two kids the family migrated to Australia and his marriage broke down.  Eventually Geoff foun...

Tim’s dad was a compulsive gambler and he started early to follow in his dad’s footsteps. Gambling on anything that ran, he avoided the pokies as they held no interest for him. Joining the Army didn’t stop his gambling and gave him a steady income to continue it unabated. Tim tried Gamblers Anonymous in 1986, stopping gambling for brief periods and then returned again in 1996.  It wasn’t until he...