Alcoholism survivors share theirexperiences with Dhempe students

PANAJI: Members of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) shared success stories of combating the disease of alcoholism with the young impressionable minds of Dhempe college of Arts and Science, on Wednesday.
Francisco, who has been sober for more than two decades now, told students that he suppressed his emotions and turned to alcohol when he was depressed, for the false courage it gave him. A good sportsman, NCC cadet, who even won the best discipline award in college, he says his dreams of becoming a Chartered accountant went out the window when he hit the bottle. It all started with one glass of beer at the end of his day which gradually increased with time and turned him into a chronic alcoholic. Stressing that alcohol was a disease that affected particular people, he pointed out how his brother consumed alcohol but didn’t crave for more like his body did. “It’s the first drink that does the damage for me. The moment I take one I need more every half hour,” he told students.
Accepting that he had a problem was the most challenging thing for him. Once he got over that, he attended an AA meeting only to listen and then found that the stories of others resonated with his own. People get sympathy when they are diagnosed with cancer and other diseases but there is stigma associated with alcoholism despite it being a disease, says Francisco, who runs a successful business today.
George says that it was solely the AA meetings that helped him get through. “When we share our experiences and listen to others, we are reminded of what we went through and this gives us the strength to stay away from the next drink,” he told the students, adding that there was plenty of help available in the state for those struggling, due to people identifying the problem in its early stages. He added that the AA meetings were now seeing youth in their late teens, as well.
Caroline, who is from Australia, lived in denial until she came to Goa to learn yoga in 2008. She was taken for an AA meeting in Mapusa where she found out that she was suffering from alcoholism. “My family and friends all drank and so would I. While my friends could control their alcohol, I couldn’t and made a lot of wrong decisions. I had ideas of who an alcoholic was but I was sure that that person was not me,” she said. She continued attending AA meetings in Australia and says there are an equal number of men and women at the meetings unlike Goa where the majority are men.