"I acquired the taste for alcohol at the wise and mature age of 14. Drowning as much as I could when I could, but never thinking I was different to any other teenage boy. I just did it for kicks and to play at being grown up. Despite my new found taste for alcohol I attended school, never taking time off. My ‘partying’ was usually on a Friday and Saturday night. The habit was established and I extended my ‘partying’ to include Thursdays and Sundays."

"I started work at the age of 16 and my long weekend drinking pattern was set until at the age of 19 I had my first proper relationship. This seemed to settle me down. We drank together when we went out for a meal or an evening at the pictures. This, I now realize is ‘normal’ drinking behaviour. But ‘normal’ grew tiresome for me and I felt that I was missing out on something. I started making excuses to ‘pop out’ for a couple of drinks. This ‘popping out’ eventually led to me arriving home intoxicated and to my girlfriend deciding enough was enough and leaving me."

"I didn’t feel heartbroken, I felt free! My drinking soon extended to every night of the week which resulted in me missing days off work. This became a routine for me and I found that I was in and out of jobs. My poor attendance record helped me to work myself down the career ladder. I went from working as a Cabinet Maker to a general labourer. Eventually was working for anyone willing enough or sympathetic enough to give me a days’ work. At this time a days’ work required a ‘good’ drink in the morning to be able to get to work and put in a days’ work."

"Health problems became an issue. I remember one day at the age of 36 going to see my doctor because I really believed that I was about to die."

"To my surprise when I presented my doctor with my symptoms he asked only one question “Do you drink”. I told him I did and he advised me to go and get a drink and come back to see him when I was feeling better as I was experiencing DT’s. The Doctor was right. After about 4 pints I felt on top of the world again so thought “why bother going back to see him, I feel better now, I am cured!” Now I had the prescription to cure my problems."

"Life spiralled downwards until eventually I was out of work, homeless and living on the streets."

"One day I work up in a hospital bed and did not know how on earth I had got there. This was my first recollection of a black out. I used my time in hospital wisely and having completed my first detox the hospital arranged for me to go and live in a hostel on my discharge. Arriving at the hostel after my time on the streets seemed like going to Buckingham Palace and I thought I have been given a new start. Of course after 8 days of being free from alcohol and with medical aid I was back in control. So I decided to celebrate my new home with a couple of cans! I thought I was in control but in fact this lead to drinking continuously until I was a shivering wreck and the support workers at the hostel phoned for an ambulance."

"This time I was diagnosed with Liver Damage and was in hospital for many weeks. I didn’t mind this as I felt safe and after all it was a lot better than the nightmare I was living, constantly drinking just to release myself from the mental and physical pain I was now in."

"I did try to abstain from drinking on my discharge from hospital but never seemed to be able to manage long term. Whether it was 6 days or 6 months’ before my next drink once I had that first drink I was never able to put it down again."

"After my 5th detox in hospital I was introduced to a day care centre called TTP. They dealt with addicts and used the 12 Step program as their recovery program. For the first time in my life I fully understood that I had a disease called Alcoholism and that this meant that I was totally powerless over alcohol and that as soon as I have the first drink I can’t stop."

"I completed my treatment with TTP and have just achieved my first year of abstinence from alcohol at the age of 41. They say that life begins at 40 and that’s exactly how I feel. Thanks to the 12 Step Program I feel like I have been given my life back rather than just existing."

To talk about treatment for alcoholism or addiction, call Trust The Process Counselling on 0845 686 0824.