“My daughter’s divorcing her husband because of his drinking.” 

I hear stuff like that all the time. Pretty much every time I tell someone that I help people to stop drinking they say “you should meet my…”

But this conversation really stood out. She couldn’t quite believe that her daughter had to leave the love of her life. They’d been together since they were at school and once upon a time they’d been head over heels in love. 

But his drinking had increased gradually over the years until he had a problem at work, and it spiralled out of control. Up until then her daughter had tolerated the binges and the hangovers. She loved him and, after all, no one’s perfect. 

But the balance tipped. His drinking went from too much on the weekend to too much all the time. He was either drunk or despondent. She couldn’t go on living with him. The strain was starting to impact her mental health too. 

One particularly horrible incident forced her to see that she couldn’t go on this way. Much as she loved him, she could no longer watch him destroying himself, because it would just break both of them. 

In many ways she was lucky. She found the courage to leave and had the support to begin to rebuild her life. 

If you ever wonder why I hate alcohol – It’s not because of what it did to me, I was fortunate compared to many. 

I hate alcohol because I see the damage it does. And not to a small minority of problem drinkers. It affects a huge amount of people. And it affects the people they love too. 

Too many people have a story about someone who is drinking too much, who is paying the price, who is one bender away from seeing their life smashed to atoms. 

If you have a loved one who’s struggling, then message me. I want to help, that’s why I got out of bed this morning.