Katherine grew up as the eldest daughter of an alcoholic mum and became the surrogate parent in the family as her mum’s drinking progressed. She was exposed to alcohol early in life, started drinking around 12 or 13 years old but it was around 15 or 16 that she sought it out.
Often drinking to blackout, Katherine regularly had to ask her friends what had happened the night before and frequently learnt of her aggressive and abusive behaviour whilst drunk, burning many close relationships. At 17 yo, her mum started going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and her behaviour began to change. Katherine was introduced to Alateen and eventually Al-Anon to help her cope with the trauma of growing up in an alcoholic family.
She started attended AA meetings with her mum but still felt that she had a few good years of drinking ahead of her. At 19 yo Katherine realized that she could no longer struggle with alcohol alone and asked for help in AA. She found that attending AA meetings was like going to the gym, the more effort you put in the better the outcome. Katherine regularly attends AA and Al-Anon meetings.
If you would like to find out a bit more about alcoholism for yourself or a friend, then you can give Alcoholics Anonymous a call on 1300 222 222 or check out their website aa.org.au.
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 for more information.
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