Barb had a happy childhood in Ireland but developed an eating disorder when her parents split-up in her early teens. She kept it hidden from her family and friends and married in her early 20’s. Barb’s marriage failed in her early 30’s and she started drinking and it progressively got worse. In her early 40’s she married again and moved to Australia and managed to overcome her bulimia with the help of a counsellor, but this just exacerbated her drinking. Eventually her husband advised her to seek help and Barb contacted Alcoholics Anonymous and has been happily sober for the over a year and a half now.

Jo grew up in a dysfunctional family; her dad was a drinker who died when she was in her early teens. She always felt a little different and left school at 14 and started working to help her mum financially. Jo had her first drink around 14 and felt the craving for alcohol from the very start.  As a daily drinker, her drinking got worse and by 25 she had run out of ideas about how to stop. Jo thought that having a baby would help her to stay sober but that didn’t happen and she eventually sought help from AA and found a glimmer of hope.  After 23 years sober in AA Jo is enjoying the benefits of improved relationships with her daughters.

If you think that alcohol may be a problem then Alcoholics Anonymous could help you. Give them a call on 1300 222 222 or see their website aa.org.au.