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 becoming a problem as it seemed more important than the family? Chris tried to find out as much as possible about alcoholism but talking to her husband about his drinking just made the situation worse.  With her kids in their teens, Chris needed help and she remembered Al-Anon and there found relief from her husband’s drinking.  About ten years later she separated from her still drinking husband and has found a new life for herself.

Mark grew up with a sober dad but he started drinking again when he was about seven years old. Things deteriorated rapidly over the next 7 years until his mum went to Al-Anon and dragged him along to an Alateen meeting. After his dad got sober again Mark hoped things would be back to normal but he found he was just getting left behind and eventually returned to Alateen to get help. He was in Alateen and then Al-Anon for over 30 years when he married a sober alcoholic. Initially fine the marriage deteriorated when his wife started drinking and taking prescription drugs and after seven years Mark eventually decided to separate from her as living with active alcoholism was not pleasant.

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