Channel 5

My name is....I’m an alcoholic

I delayed watching this programme, partly due to having watched many programmes concerning addiction and alcoholism and often being left feeling somewhat disappointed. Not so with this programme, and I would recommend it to all either interested in alcoholism or those affected by it.

Alcoholics have long been stereotyped as park bench drinkers, drinking cheap spirits from a brown paper bag from first thing in the morning until they pass out and, subsequently, losing everything valuable in their lives. Then came the celebrity who disclosed their alcoholism on one chat show or another, followed by a spate of biographical accounts of their stays in rehab. In lots of ways, the attention these celebrities got helped to break down the stereotypical views of the alcoholic, and certainly their struggles with drink would be no less because of their fame.  But still they are not like you and me.

That is what was so refreshing about this programme. The people interviewed were just like you and me. Ordinary people  of different ages, different backgrounds, different ways of drinking, with one thing in common - a desire to make the changes necessary to stop drinking, because they had come to believe that their lives would be much better without alcohol. Each, in their own way, was eloquent about how their drinking had affected their lives from the time when it was harmless to when it was harmful.

They spoke about relapse, normally a taboo subject. We all like a happy ending, but for many grappling with alcoholism, that happy ending is hard to sustain. So it is often just not talked about. This programme was not afraid to acknowledge that alcoholism can be a relapsing condition.

Quite often, these types of programmes are advocating for a particular recovery modality. Again, this programme showed their individual roads torecovery, not advocating one above another. What they did all have in common in someway, was their contact with like-minded people, that is others in recovery.

How brave these people were, to show their vulnerabilities in front of the camera. Especially those newly sober. Taking responsibility for their alcoholism and make the changes needed is challenging enough, but allowing us to know a small part of the struggle was both enlightening and humbling.