Living Free

Jason grew up with an alcoholic mum, although it took him many years to realize that her drinking was a problem because of his dad’s controlling and abusive behaviour.  Jason began drinking in his early teens and started to get into trouble. He was anxious and always trying to conform to others. Eventually he married and moved frequently to get a new start in life, eventually moving from Canada to...

Sam had a love of sugar from the start and with an overweight brother the family had a focus on food control. Sam enjoyed visiting her cousins’ place to have treats and at home she often ate food alone or in hiding. She was often angry at her mum about what she felt was inadequate amounts of food and initially Sam didn’t look very overweight.  As she put on weight her body image worsened and it al...

Michael’s parents were heavy drinkers and separated when he was young. Raised by others he learned to lie quickly and started drinking in his early teens, preferring port to beer as it did the job quicker.  His drinking quickly progressed from drinking at parties to stealing money to buy alcohol and getting drunk at every opportunity. Michael tried Uni twice but eventually managed to get a job and...

Viv only started gambling later in life when the Pokies came to town. It seemed glamourous at first and a safe place for women, but it was never a social thing. She started slowly but eventually became edgy and impatient to gamble. Money was always a problem as she became more reckless trying to win back her losses. She tried Gamblers Help but realized that she couldn’t control her gambling and we...

Emma grew up in a close knit European family and didn’t have any exposure to excessive drinkers. She met her husband ad they had a good social life and were a happy family until his drinking progressed slowly. It became a serious problem after 20 years and Emma was working two jobs to keep the family going. Emma’s friend suggested that she go to Al-Anon Family Groups to get some help and she event...

Gemma was aware that food played a big part in her life from a very young age. Being petite and enjoying dancing she managed to control her weight through a combination of self will and purging. Never overweight, Gemma flew under the radar during her early compulsive eating.  Gemma grew up with her dad in and out of AA, mum in Al-Anon and a brief stint in Alateen herself but found that as she ente...

Dave felt different from day 1 and was waiting for someone to come and take him to his true home. He started drinking at 14 years old with his friends and was a happy drunk. Dave’s drinking progressed steadily and as his friends dropped off to continue a normal life Dave ploughed on with drugs and alcohol. Diagnosed in his late teens with a psychiatric problem and with prescribed medication he was...

Both Sue & Terri grew up in a pretty normal household but later realized that the effects of alcoholism were evident from the beginning. Sue left home at 18 years old to escape family duties and found that work was a chance to socialize. Meeting her husband through work she realized that he liked a drink but thought that could be managed. After 15 years of trying to cope with the effects of her hu...

Terry realized when he was 5 years old that he was more into food than plating with other kids. His gambling addiction started at a weekend pokies venue visit when he was just 16 – pulling the leaver felt like heaven. After being picked on as a kid due to his weight he started a successful boxing career as a kid but gave up to be with girls. Gambling became problematic and he managed to stay in GA...

Luke was introduced to alcohol around 10 years old didn’t initially like it but that came when he was 14 and started drinking on weekends with friends. Luke started to suffer a bit of depression in late high school and then found drugs and smoking dope when he was at university. He realized drinking was a problem in his early 20’s but couldn’t get the incentive to stop. When he was nearing 30 Luke...

Brett had a very normal family life but found that he was fascinated with numbers and analysing the odds of favourites winning horseraces from a very early age. He started gambling in earnest when he was 18 and like his friends it was part of typical social life. But Brett found that he continued gambling well after his friends gave up for the night. His gambling progressed and so did the lies, de...

Both Janina and Christian had a dad who suffered from alcoholism but they had very different lives. Janina’s mum developed a mental illness and she felt silenced as a 10 years old and withdrew from social contact before rebelling at the strict control exercised by her ethnic family and leaving home at 18. Janina went on to marry an alcoholic and to live in poverty and isolation with 3 young childr...

Dayna had a fairly normal home life but was attracted to alcohol in her early teens and started drinking around 15 years old when she started working. Dayna joined a band at 17 and thought her drinking was fairly normal compared to others in that scene. Things changed when she had her child in her late twenties and found that she was pretty dependent on alcohol on a daily basis. Dayna got into AA...

The Residents for Victoria Street Drug Solutions Incorporated (RVSDS) is a group of Yarra residents from Victoria Street and the surrounding streets, who are directly and personally affected by the high levels of public drug taking and illicit drug dealing within the precinct. They successfully advocated for a Medically Supervised Injection Centre (MSIC) to be trialled within the Victoria Street p...

Jade always knew that food played a larger part in her life than her family or friends and being slightly overweight led to bullying and name calling at school. Seeking isolation where she could eat without criticism led to her increasing weight over school holidays, exacerbating the problem. Being a fairly good student meant that Jade could continue achieving and made it through secondary school...

Lisa and Cath both started drinking around 13 years old and independently each came to AA for the first time in their early twenties but didn’t identify as an alcoholic. They had plenty of drinking left in them yet but eventually realized in their mid-30’s that alcohol was a real problem to them. Lisa was at Cath’s first AA meeting and they formed a strong bond that even when Lisa left AA for some...

Growing up in New Zealand as an adopted child Grant felt different from the start, like something was missing inside. He was quite competitive and found from an early age that he enjoyed arcade games as a form of gambling. Grant pursued his addiction in earnest when he turned 18 and found racing provided the quickest turnaround. After losing jobs and relationships he found Gamblers Anonymous but c...

Celeste and Jenny share their experience living in a close relationship with an alcoholic. They were attracted to alcoholics and came to Al-Anon Family Groups unaware that they grew up with alcoholism in their own families. Celeste and Jenny both identified with other adult children’s experience and this explained a lot about their own behaviour and their distorted relationship with the alcoholic....

Starting out as the heaviest kid in the class, Alan used food as a comfort to overcome the bullying and name calling. He was still sporty and athletic but preferred to eat on his own in his room. Alan’s mum worried about his weight and his eating habits and tried to help him through naturopaths and weight loss food programs.  In his twenties he realized that drugs and alcohol were making things wo...

Growing up in the USA an extended family that drank and as a restless child, Aaron was put on narcotic prescription drugs at 13 year old to treat his behaviour problems. Shortly after, he found that alcohol solved his problem of feeling different. Aaron used pot and alcohol and became a daily drinker by the time he moved out of home at 18, before getting sick, being prescribed more painkillers and...

Growing up in a pretty normal family where his dad drank heavily and introduced Madison to alcohol on his 13th birthday. As a restless child, alcohol added colour to his life and with an anxious disposition, pretty soon he was looking forward to drinking on the weekend.  It wasn’t a conscious decision but alcohol became a regular part of Madison’s teen life. Alcohol had the desired effect, where s...

Joy shares her recovery story from growing up with an alcoholic father to having to cope with an alcoholic son. From a big family she left at 14 years old and began work before marrying an alcoholic and having a child.  Then a single mum and workaholic Joy remarried and gained some step-kids. Life became unmanageable as her 13 year old son turned to alcohol and drugs. A friend helped her find Al-A...

Rich shares his recovery story, growing up in a loving family he starting drinking and eventually smoking dope in his early teens with his friends. Drinking became more serious at Uni before leaving and establishing a successful career in business. Having plenty of cash he quickly moved to party drugs, ecstasy and speed and onto cocaine. He married and had a child before realizing that he couldn’t...

Growing up in a family that drank and as an angry and rebellious girl, Di started drinking with friends in her early teens. She continued drinking and mixing with the wrong crowd through her twenties and thirties. Then in her early forties with a Uni degree, 3 kids and a demanding job she started to suffer the consequences of daily drinking.  Eventually she sought help and recovered through Alcoho...

Growing up on a farm with race horses Steve started gambling at the races in his early teens, and continued through his twenties and thirties, losing everything on the horses before eventually recovering through Gamblers Anonymous in his late thirties. Chris’s story is quite different, she starting gambling on poker machines in her early twenties and finally just wanting to die of shame, from losi...