Derek grew up in a conservative religious family and didn’t drink alcohol till he was in his early twenties. He liked the effect of alcohol and continued drinking socially during his twenties and then quite heavily during his thirties. Derek was 42 when he decided to control his drinking but it took him 5 years before he had to admit that all he could really manage was a maximum of 2 days sober at any one attempt. Three months after he heard about Alcoholics Anonymous from a friend, it took a further 3 months till he was ready to try AA and then 5 days to get to a meeting.  Derek found out that he couldn’t drink like normal people and that he could survive and even thrive, without a daily drink.If you would like to find out a bit more about alcoholism for yourself or a friend, then you can give Alcoholics Anonymous a call on 1300 222 222 or check out their website www.aa.org.au.If someone else's drinking is causing you a problem, then you can phone the Al-Anon Family Groups helpline on 1300 252 666 or go online at al-anon.org.au for more information.You can show your support to the Living Free show and keep us on air by:subscribing to 3CR https://www.3cr.org.au/subscribeand/or donating to 3CR https://www.3cr.org.au/donateMusic played in this episode was provided by the artists, via Australian Music Radio Airplay Project (https://amrap.org.au/):@15:28 - Ben Walker: Time Machine (https://amrap.org.au/track/ben-walker-time-machine-1)@34:25 - Sven Tydeman: That's Why It Works (https://amrap.org.au/track/sven-tydeman-thats-why-it-works)@56:09 - No PROMISES - Hold The Door & Singing My Lines (https://amrap.org.au/release/no-promises-hold-the-door & https://amrap.org.au/track/no-promises-singing-my-lines)