In the UK there are over 4,000 groups made up of people of all age
groups and from all walks of life.

Members help each other to achieve and maintain sobriety by using "The
Twelve Steps of Recovery" programme.

Groups hold regular meetings which may take one of two forms:

closed meetings which are only open to people with an alcohol problem,
and open meetings at which speakers tell how they drank, how they discovered AA and how its programme has helped them.

Members may bring family and friends to these, and usually anyone
who is interested is welcome to attend.

The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking.
There are no dues or fees for membership – the fellowship is selfsupporting through members' own contributions.

Anyone who believes that they have a problem with alcohol and wishes
to stop drinking may join Alcoholics Anonymous.

Contact can be made by simply calling the helpline, which although a
national number is answered in the location from which the call originated.

Calls are answered by members who themselves have had a severe problem
with alcohol and, having found and maintained recovery, have a great deal of experience in the illness and in the solution offered by AA.

Call the helpline on 0845 769 7555.

H's story

H had never been much of a drinker, but found that during her 40s she began to drink more in social situations to feel more confident.

She said: "Throughout my teens I didn't drink. My parents were
Methodists and there was no drink in the house and I never thought about
having a drink even when out with friends.

"This carried into my married life – I was always the designated driver and I would only get tipsy about four times a year."

Despite this, H, now 55, knew all along that she had an addictive personality, which was just one of the factors that contributed to her starting to drink more.

A mum of three, and married to a successful businessman, she had a comfortable life, but still her drinking became more frequent.

As her family became more and more concerned it was suggested that
she go and see a doctor. She said: "The doctor said I was depressed because I'd lost my parents, and that I was menopausal. I thought
'phew', but deep down inside I knew it was something different.

"I went along with it and had counselling, but my drinking was getting
worse. I started buying bottles and hiding them.

"When I saw the Doctor again it was apparent that my drinking was out of control and it was suggested that I try to cut back by adding up the units I drank each week.

"I moved on from wine to vodka because I could drink it quite quickly
and its effect on me was faster." H's family continued to support her
and scoured the internet for ways they could help. She went voluntarily to a psychiatric hospital in York, but admits she was still in denial at that point.

H didn't drink for seven months, but one night she thought "What's wrong
with a bottle of wine on a Friday night?" and things started to go downhill.

She said: "My drinking was even worse than before. I ended up in
Scarborough Hospital twice in A&E.

"I was lying on the bed and I heard a nurse saying 'She's in again – it's the drink' and I couldn't believe she was talking about me.
"I thought there must be a better way of living life – this is a living
death."

H went for eight weeks' rehabilitation at Ark House in Scarborough, having already started going to AA meetings.

She said: "I didn't want to go to meetings, but I found that these people understood me. They knew me and my disease. There was acceptance and love in that room."

Two years on, without a drink, H now credits AA with "saving her life".
She said: "I was on the brink of losing my family – I could have lost everything. "Now I've been restored to an even better life than I ever had. It's given me my life back and more.

"I never ended up on a park bench, but my park bench was my leather
sofa." H adds that she will always be grateful to the couple who introduced her to AA and gave up their morning to speak to her.

She said: "Now I know I've only got to pick up the phone and speak to
another recovering alcoholic and attend AA meetings regularly.
"It's just a more balanced, peaceful way of living – it's like coming home."

T's story

T was born in a pub and started drinking when he was just eight years old.

When he was 17 he sadly lost a brother, then his mum died just a month before his 21st birthday, leaving him "devastated".

T had been living in and running the family pub, but was finding it
more and more difficult to manage. He went to work away and by the
age of 23, he had got married and started a family.

T, now 47, said: "I couldn't handle it really. I had always relied on my mum and that transferred to a woman I hadn't known very long."
The couple had two sons in quick succession, but T's drinking continued
to get worse.

He said: "I couldn't function on a daily basis without a drink. I would
get aggressive and abusive and I told lies all the time – phenomenal lies. "I would go out for a paper and come back two days later."

To an outsider, T seemed to have the perfect life. He had a wife and children, was running his own business and had a lovely home and two cars. But still, his drinking problem continued to escalate.

NEXT WEEK we conclude T's story and look into W's story