As Addictions Awareness Week is Nov. 19 to 25, the local Al-Anon chapter here on the Coast wants to remind the community that support is available.
Alcoholism is a family disease, a disease that affects all those who have a relationship with a problem drinker. Those of us closest to the alcoholic suffer the most, and those who care the most can easily get caught up in the behaviour of another person. We react to the alcoholic’s behaviour. We focus on them, what they do, where they are, how much they drink. We try to control their drinking for them. We take on the blame, guilt and shame that really belong to the drinker. We can become as addicted to the alcoholic as the alcoholic is to alcohol. We, too, can become ill.
Friends and families of problem drinkers find understanding and support at Al-Anon/Alateen meetings. Many who come to Al-Anon/Alateen are in despair, feeling hopeless, unable to believe that things can ever change. We want our lives to be different, but nothing we have done has brought about change. We all come to Al-Anon/Alateen because we want and need help.
In Al-Anon/Alateen, members share their own experience, strength and hope with each other. You will meet others who share your feelings and frustrations, if not your exact situation. We come together to learn a better way of life, to find happiness whether the alcoholic is still drinking or not.
One of the Al-Anon/Alateen program’s basic principles is that of anonymity. Meetings are confidential, and we do not disclose whom we see or what we hear at meetings.
Meetings are held Mondays at Living Faith Lutheran Church in Davis Bay from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.; Tuesdays at St. Hilda’s Church in Sechelt from noon to 1:30 p.m.; Wednesdays at the Gibsons Health Unit on South Fletcher Road from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.; Thursdays at St. Hilda’s Church from 7 to 8 p.m.; and Fridays at the Gibsons United Church from noon to 1:30 p.m.
For more information call 604-885-0101, 604-886-9059, 604-886-4594 or 604-886-0228.
