ALCOHOL REPORT: 'For me drink was a destructive force' (From Oxford Mail)

ALCOHOL REPORT: 'For me drink was a destructive force'

9:00am Friday 3rd September 2010 in

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HIS children inspired Paul Brackett to kick his drinking habit.

The father of two from Blackbird Leys had been drinking for 17 years when he decided to change his life for good while serving a prison sentence.

The 51-year-old said he spent much of his younger years in and out of jail, being convicted of violence and burglary due to his addiction to alcohol.

But he said the realisation he was missing some of the best years with his children Kayleigh, now 20, and David, 23, made him turn his life around.

Mr Brackett is now teetotal and has taken up marathon running.

He said: “I’m not going to get up on my high horse and tell people what they should and shouldn’t do.

“But for me drink was a destructive force.

“I know a lot of hard-working people who look forward to a well-earned drink at the end of the day.

“But for some people life is so hard or maybe they have been through a difficult time and it’s not so easy for them to control.”

Mr Brackett said he was now enjoying being a grandfather and spending time with his family and wife Tracy.

He said: “It may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but what I have done has worked for me.

“I would say to people who were in my situation just reach out and make the change.

“You just need self-belief that you can and are going to change.”

According to a mother from North Oxford, her husband’s alcoholism forced her family apart.

The 50-year-old, who asked not to be named, said her husband’s heavy drinking drove her to the depths of despair.

She said: “It isn’t just yourself you’re harming, it’s those around you.

“My now ex-husband held down a job and managed to hide his alcoholism from people fairly well.

“To other people, I probably looked like the unreasonable one, but behind the scenes he was abusive and irrational.”

• If you are affected by a loved one’s alcoholism there are several support groups in Oxfordshire. See the Al-Anon website for details.

• If you wish to receive help for alcoholism, see your GP, or the Oxfordshire Drug and Alcohol Action Team website.