Goya Dmytryshchak
Not once during self isolation has Kate* felt like a drink.
Kate, who previously attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in the Newport area, said COVID-19 had forced the support fellowship to quickly change the way it connected people.
She believes the online meetings, set up through Zoom, are helping to alleviate the issues of social distancing alcoholics could face.
“The great thing with the Zoom meetings is they’re pretty much on 24/7 and so if someone’s struggling late at night there’s always a meeting that they can dial into,” she said.
“It’s the social isolation that causes an issue for a lot of alcoholics because it just means that we have a disconnection from other people and, for us, the meetings really are about connecting.
“It’s about stopping that mental isolation that’s going on so that you’re not just living in a tape recording of your thoughts and playing those over and over again in your head.
“For us, the meetings are about connecting and trying to get outside of our own heads, not getting stuck in negative thinking.”
Kate said she attended her first meeting after getting to a point where she couldn’t look at herself in the mirror any more.
“I couldn’t trust my actions when I would drink and I loved all the people around me and I couldn’t see a way out,” she said.
“I had promised my father that I wouldn’t kill myself so I thought, well, I’ll go to AA and I’ll see what it’s about …
“Nineteen years I’m still in AA and the other option has never ever entered my head since the first meeting I went to because I got hope at that meeting.”
Kate celebrated her 19th “birthday” of sobriety by attending an online meeting at her first ‘home group’ in London and her current one in Newport.
“For me, it has completely changed my life, going to meetings,” she said.
“Life is awesome these days for me.
“We’re all having to go through this [coronavirus] together, but not once have I thought about having a drink during this time.”
Details: 1300 222 222 or aatimes.org.au
*not her real name
