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 and stayed around for 6 years before her first break, then came back into AA for another 5 years before another break and the realization that she needed to do the 12 steps to really recover.

Di’s father became a problem drinker when she was in her early twenties and she found that her mum’s reaction was bigger a problem than her dad’s drinking.  Di felt that her family environment had groomed her to marry an alcoholic and when she did she felt trapped. Di heard about alcoholism on the radio and was able to contact Al-Anon through the AA helpline. Initially she felt like she could save the alcoholic and it took her about 10 years before she started coming to Al-Anon to help herself.  Al-Anon allowed her to detach from the alcoholic and live her own life to the fullest.

Contacts:

Alcoholics Anonymous on 1300 222 222 or see their website aa.org.au.

Al-Anon Family Groups on 1300 252 666 or go online at www.al-anon.org.au.