I started drinking when I was very young {in my early teens}. There was always drink in the family home. Both my parents drank plus I thought it was the done thing. In my mid-teens I used to go drinking with my friends. We got the drink ourselves or else got friends to get it for us. We drank our carry-outs in the local woods. When we were about 17, we began frequenting the local pubs.
On going to college, I continued to drink and used it to deal with stress. When I was working down in England after my time at college, I developed paranoid schizophrenia, while doing care work. I continued to drink, finding it masked my mental illness. I was about 21 years of age. I was too ashamed to ask for help at the time.
When I got back to Scotland, I eased off the drink and my mental illness eased off. For a few years I coped well with my drinking and mental illness. However, when I lost my youngest brother to a motorbike accident, which resulted in my parent's break up, I was very unstable.
Eventually, I went to live with my father and became his co-drinker. When my father died {due to drink}, I went to stay with my mother, who stopped me from drinking. However, as I was used to drinking to mask my mental illness, when I stopped my mental illness returned. So I started drinking again and became homeless for a while.
When eventually I was given a bedsit by the Council, I was lonely and went looking for new friends to drink with. It got to the stage that I was paying for all the drink plus I was being taken a loan of.
Eventually, I had a mental breakdown. This brought me into contact with the Mental Health Team and I ended up in the psychiatric hospital. It took me about nine weeks to restore my mental health and I spent a further three weeks in the Alcohol Treatment Unit.
When I am not drinking and with the support of my friends, I save money, have a cleaner house, I keep myself clean, and have a better diet. I have also stopped smoking and I don't miss my medication. I also do Tai Chi plus some light exercise.
In hindsight, I would not have drunk so much plus I would have sought help earlier. My Christian faith has been a very helpful factor in my recovery.