2 days Ago By Damon Cronshaw
A Merewether woman who has been sober for 20 years says people have a problem with alcohol "when their life becomes unmanageable ". Login or signup to continue reading Cathy, who is in her early 60s, said "when you drink and can't stop, that's a sign you're an alcoholic". Another sign was when "you start to antagonise people and your relationships with loved ones and friends start to crumble".
"And when you go out socially and make a fool of yourself - things like that," she said. Cathy, of the Merewether chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous, discovered alcohol at age 17 while doing her HSC. "I drank as much as I could every weekend.
I had blackouts and didn't think much of it because a lot of young people drank in those days. It was normal." She went to university in Canberra.
"I drank to handle the loneliness. I was physically homesick." She failed every subject in her first year at university because "things got out of hand".
"I couldn't study due to drinking too much." When Cathy was 21, her mother died of cancer. "That caused me a lot of grief.
She was the rock of my life," she said She returned to Newcastle after her mother's death and decided to go to AA. "I knew I had a problem. I drank compulsively and always got into terrible situations with the drink.
" She attended regular AA meetings for five years, but returned to drinking and didn't give it up for 18 years. "I met my partner and we lived together for nine years. We were great drinking buddies.
"At that time, I developed a mental illness. I'd drink to self-medicate." In a huge shock to Cathy, her partner died suddenly.
She was 39 at the time. "He was my rock and protector. When he died, I got out of hand with my drinking.
It wasn't long before I got the sack from my job. "I realised I couldn't manage life on my own as a single woman with all the drinking. I'd wake up in the morning on my lounge with cigarette butts all over the place.
" Relatives died during this period, causing her to drink more. "I'd use grief as an excuse for drinking," she said. "I ended up being a derelict in my own home - that's an AA quote.
" She returned to AA and has been sober since. "Lots of things happened during my sobriety. My father died and I had two diagnoses of cancer.
"I was able to survive that. And I also was able to work successfully, but I'm retired now. "My mental illness is much more manageable since I've been off the alcohol.
" She no longer self-medicates and the antidepressants she takes "work much better". She recalled fond memories during her sobriety. "My 50th birthday party was probably the best I ever had," she said.
"I had my family with me and felt so much joy that I could celebrate sober. Sobriety has been a wonderful experience. "I love the program of recovery and having God in my life.
" She goes to functions where people drink. "If it gets too hairy I just leave. Mostly I can manage social occasions with ease.
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