"Me and my friend"

My friend is an alcoholic, not that she would admit it, even now after detox and rehab, she is sadly back to drinking.

My link with PSL came when my friend, invited me along to meet her support worker at Inclusion. This was a big step for both of us, as although she told me about Inclusion, she had never allowed me to ask anymore questions. Anyway, we went along and met her support worker and talked through a variety of things - how much she was drinking, at worst it was 3 bottles of wine a day (who knows it may have been more). At some point I was asked how this was impacting me. I can't remember how I responded, but I walked out of the room with a leaflet about PSL with me. A few weeks later I plucked up courage to phone and have never looked back.

PSL has me realise that what my friend was doing is on her shoulders and only she can stop or reduce her drinking. PSL has given me a voice - My friend & I attended joint sessions together which provided us both with a huge amount of insight into how we "worked" together and I appreciated things about her as she did about me.

Sadly my friend is still drinking, but thankfully for me she is no longer on my doorstep so I don't feel so beholden to her or at her beck and call. Some things are unlikely to change.

I kept seeing my support worker and things were beginning to draw to a close, when the delights of Covid hit. Like many others I found the first lockdown hideous, so much uncertainty and daily changes and stress at work (I am a key worker). I would that I too was drinking too much. I spoke to my support worker and bless her she came up trumps again. I now recognise my stress points and am now back in control. Thanks to PSL.