DDN_Sept26 DDN Magazine September 2026 | Page 20

ALCOHOL

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

When it comes to problem drinking, says a graduate of Mount Carmel Rehab, denial is a door locked from the inside intervention, or maybe just a‘ God-given moment of sanity’. An actor describes how, at rock bottom, he was moved to take the AA test and, as he proudly said,‘ got every answer right’.
My recovery started when, with help from Mount Carmel Rehab, the police, a psychiatrist and my local authority, I pushed my denial aside for a brief moment and confronted the challenge that I’ d heard before but never listened to:‘ If your drinking is costing you more than money, you need to do something about it.’
So I saw the truth, and entered residential rehab with a degree of intent. But addressing denial is often over-simplified. It’ s not binary, a switch that’ s turned from on to off. In my experience, denial occurs across many facets of life –‘ my drinking never affected my job / my children / my health / my future prospects’. Each one must be faced honestly as the journey of recovery begins.
All that began for me years ago. Since then I’ ve given sober
Two men were talking at the funeral of their friend, who’ d died of drink.‘ Shame he never found AA,’ said one.‘ Oh, he never got that bad’, the other replied.
This apocryphal tale underlines an idea I strongly believe in – that society is in denial about alcoholism. The theme of this year’ s Alcohol Awareness Week was‘ alcohol and me’, asking people to look at their drinking. That’ s a goal I strongly support – any action that reduces alcohol’ s vast range of harms should be applauded. But here I want to focus on how the awareness week could affect
dependent drinkers – a group who may have most to gain from it, and one that I know something about from the inside.
Alcohol Awareness Week offered a questionnaire on alcohol intake – how many units, how often, what are the consequences? AA has a test too( 12 questions, inevitably). For 40 years the simpler CAGE test has been used by GPs in the USA – it asks four questions about your feelings around your drinking, with no mention of units.
Do you feel:( 1) You should cut down?( 2) Annoyed by criticism of it?( 3) Guilty about it?( 4) Have you ever taken a morning‘ eye opener’?
No units of alcohol. Just feelings. Two‘ yes’ answers and alarm
bells ring. But all these tests depend on the honesty of the respondent – and most alcoholics have long since given up on honesty about their drinking, even to themselves. They’ re in stubborn denial, and pleading and threats fail to open that locked door. Society’ s lack of realism about alcoholism enables that process too.
For me, as my drinking got worse, my denial and rationalising of it kept pace, ever stronger and cleverer. Good, helpful, concerned people said to me,‘ Can’ t you see what it’ s doing to you?’ My answer was a silent‘ Yes I can, but you have no idea what it’ s doing for me. In my mind, the equation balances’. But my mind was in denial.
For the lucky ones, something happens that brings changes. Family intervention, police
Addressing denial is often oversimplified. It’ s not binary, a switch that’ s turned from on to off.
father-of-the-bride speeches for my two daughters, a sober eulogy at my mum’ s funeral, and I’ ve paid my dues to society and HMRC. Normal living. I’ ve also learned a lot about myself, first from my time at Mount Carmel, and then in the programme of AA. It works if you work it. Recovery is a long and continuing journey inwards.
Mount Carmel Rehab is an addiction treatment centre in South London www. mountcarmel. org. uk
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