Alcohol addict

Mary began drinking as a young teenager. However it would be some thirty years later before she would admit that alcohol had become a problem. Now 57, she has been sober for five years and takes group sessions at White Oaks having come through the education and training programme at the centre.

"Around 1992 I realised that I had started to drink more than usual. It progressed from there, slowly, until it spiralled out of control in the last two years before I sought help.

"I was a home drinker. In those last two years I would wake up with a hangover and reach for a glass of wine to bring me round. It would progress to drinking all day and going back to bed to sleep it off. I was married with four children and by that stage they had given up. They had supported me enough and were letting me do my own thing.

"I didn't want to lose them but I had tried everything to recover. I tried to stop by myself and even went to AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) but it didn't work," she sighed.

The straw that eventually broke the camel's back came during a week long family holiday in Spain.

"I went with my brothers and sisters. I had been off the drink for a month at that stage and thought I could handle one glass of white wine at the airport. I couldn't - the week was a blur and when I came home my own family were in bits. They were all crying and when I went to bed that night I knew something had to be done or I was going to die. I phoned a friend who put me in contact with White Oaks. You have to be sober for three days before they'll entertain you. I was taken for screening and admitted in October 1, 2002. I haven't looked back from that day. I'm a facilitator there now and take a group every week. It's very much a case of one day at a time but it's going great," she said.

"The best thing about all of this is that I managed to keep my family. I have to say that I had tried everything and I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for White Oaks. Now I'm trying to give a little back," Mary said.

Looking back, Mary believes that she her drinking became more pronounced when her children reached their teenage years.

"I was a housewife. The kids were at school while my husband was out working. I suppose I just got bored with it all. I though I was doing a good job of masking it but the kids now tell me that they knew all along. In the end I was going to bed at five in the evening having drunk two bottles of wine during the course of the day.

"The message is that you can't beat this thing on your own. I can't stress that highly enough. I had to be educated on it and be introduced to a higher power. There is a power greater than me - God - and I needed his help," she said.

Mary has three grand children with one 'on the way' and she's looking forward to doing 'normal' things.

"Only one of them saw me drinking and I hope and pray that will remain the case. I still do normal things and attend family functions like weddings and christenings. I go to the meal and pass myself for a wee while but when the drinking starts I make my excuses and head for home. I have an escape plan," she laughs.

"There is no such thing as one drink. I have come to accept that I can never take a drink again. It's very much a case of one day at a time but with help and support from my family and friends I will continue do my best," she said.

AT JUST 16, Michael began using heroin. Now 25, he has been clean for nine months and is working hard to turn his life around.

"I always smoked and started drinking Bulmers when I was 13. I moved on to ecstasy at 14 and then LSD. Then I dropped out of school. I was living down the country at the time," he said.

"When I first started taking drugs, I really took everything and anything - heroin and cocaine mainly. I'm in my mid 20s now and I took drugs altogether for about 10 years.

"I started getting treatment down the country but it wasn't until I moved to Donegal that I started to sort out my life. If I hadn't got into White Oaks, I don't think I'd be here. The great thing about up here is all the education you can do. I've just had my first foreign holiday - my first time on a plane. I'm just starting to live life - it's great," Michael said.

"I was totally strung out by the time I was 18. I begged, borrowed and stole to feed my habit. I was basically out of control. It got to the stage when I was begging on the streets. I lost my family, my home and decided to get out of the place. It was the best decision I ever made," he added.

"When I came up here I left all that behind but, unfortunately, the alcohol then took over. I couldn't pay the rent and something had to give. I've been sober since last year's Fleadh Cheoil in Letterkenny. It's the longest period of sobriety I've had in many, many years," he said.

Michael's message is quite simple. Always be aware of what you're doing.

"The reason a lot of people got addicted to heroin years back is because of the rave scene. People would do loads of E's and then take heroin to come down. They didn't know how addictive it was," he said.

"Life is so much better now. I've money in my pocket, some money in the bank and I'm doing a course. Life is starting to open up for me," he said.

Names have been changed in this article

Donegal News