Annette grew up with an alcoholic grandfather and her siblings went on to have drug and alcohol problems. Her boyfriend drank but it wasn’t till they were married and had two children that she found it harder to cope with his drinking. Annette’s husband got sober through rehab but when he started using drugs she lost her compassion for him. When she was introduced to Al-Anon Family Groups her life started to improve as she realized that she could detach from him and address her behaviour, which was also part of the problem.

Silvana grew up in a European migrant family that struggled to feel at home in Australia. Moving often and spending her teens back in Europe she had few friends, low self-esteem and was insecure. Silvana married into a family of drinkers and her new husband was an angry drunk. She was scared but bottled up the anger and through her husband’s boss was introduced to Al-Anon. Eventually Silvana managed to get up enough courage to leave her husband but drifted away from Al-Anon, only to return when her son started to use Ice.  Although he is not in recovery she can still love and accept her son by using the tools of Al-Anon.

 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 al-anon.org.au.