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 children. After leaving her husband and with the help of some school mum friends she was coaxed her into Al-Anon and her recovery began.

Christian’s dad became paranoid about the controlling political regime in Chile and the family migrated to Australia when he was 4 years old. His dad’s drinking just got worse and there was family violence with event his mum physically abusing them as kids. Like many adult children from alcoholic homes, Christian thought that he was the problem in the family and sought help from multiple self-help groups. He was fortunate to have a sponsor that identified the alcoholism issues and to recommend he try Al-Anon.

If someone else's drinking is causing you a problem then you could phone the Al-Anon Family Groups helpline on 1300 252 666 or go online at www.al-anon.org.au.