CHRISTMAS can be an especially difficult time for people with alcohol problems.
Add that to financial and family stress, office parties and an expectation to have a ‘good time’ and it can all become too much.
Alan Walker, from Alcohol Support Kirklees (Ask), says people can feel obligated to drink at social occasions to join in the jollity.
And some drinkers can be abandoned by family who leave them on their own until they ‘sort themselves out’.
Ten years ago men tended to only seek help in their 50s, but nowadays more men in the 30- to 40-year-old group are asking for help.
Mr Walker said: “People are being more honest with themselves and others and there is less stigma attached to admitting you have a problem, so people are coming forward for help sooner.
“But in addition to that, people are drinking more than they used to, so their bodies are packing up earlier, forcing them to face their problems.”
He added that women were often reluctant to attend groups, but more women than men sought assistance from Ask, which offers one-to-one counselling in clients’ homes.
He said: “Despite there being less stigma in society about women with alcohol problems, women do tend to feel more guilty and my sessions provide them with a private situation where often deep-rooted problems are uncovered.”
This type of help provides them with the confidence to move on to local groups such as Kirklees Alcohol Advisory Service (KAAS) and Alcoholics Anonymous.
Mr Walker said he needs to see somebody only once: “That’s enough to motivate them and make them feel comfortable in a group situation. Then they can go on to KAAS.
“When they get into a group, people realise that they are not alone, that there is hope and it can be done. The group is powerful. It helps people identify things about themselves in others.”
And with binge drinking becoming one of the nation’s biggest problems, Mr Walker says he is seeing more of this type of client than ever.
He said: “They often cannot understand why they do it and so Ask helps them come to terms with the problem and offers some options for change.
“People don’t realise that binge drinking once a month or twice a year can cause just as many physical and mental health problems as long-term drinkers.”
The national drink-drive campaign has made people more aware of the dangers of driving the morning after the night before and police will be especially targeting drink-drivers over Christmas.
Mr Walker, who runs courses for drink-driving rehabilitation, said: “People innocently get in their cars the day after a night out without realising they are well over the limit and 17% of prosecutions come from being caught the next day.”
The majority of Ask’s clients make contact after visiting its website or Kirklees Council’s website, but they also receive referrals from previous clients, GPs and the liver unit at St James’s Hospital in Leeds.
