My dad was intelligent, charismatic and had piercing blue eyes that always seemed to have a twinkle in them. He was a member of the TA and a Regimental Sergeant Major in the Army Cadets. Last year I chatted to a friend who had been one of his cadets and he gleefully told me that…
Category: mental health
Breaking free!
I grew up in a home (if you would even call it that) where both parents where alcoholics. When I look back on it now, it seems like a never-ending day of violence, trauma and neglect. I somehow had an instinctual sense, I think from the day I was born that this was all wrong….
A waste of life that could have been so much more.
Today’s powerful guest blog comes from Alexandra Pilson. Miserable, I was constantly sad, frustrated, and lonely. I felt alienated from others as no one would have believed me. My father was seen as a pillar of the community and such a wonderful man. I carried far too much responsibility and an enormously heavy burden. My…
Turn Loneliness into Learning
For those that have experienced loneliness you will know how upsetting it can be. I have had periods of loneliness throughout my life and thankfully now I experience this very rarely. My home was often full of people, if it wasn’t the family it was foreign students or friends of my mums so generally a…
Alcoholism stole my Hero!
This weeks hugely relatable guest post comes from Rowan Parry. My life was spent walking out of the school gates, dying of embarrassment, hoping he wouldn’t be there and hoping he wouldn’t embarrass me again. The ‘he’ I make reference to was my Dad. For the early stages of my life he was my…
Want to tell your story as the child of an alcoholic?
I cannot begin to tell you the positive affect that writing a blog has had on me. I have only been doing it for a short amount of time, but along with the YouTube videos, it has really opened up my world. I have found freedom from things I didn’t know I was imprisoned by,…
Witnessing my dads overdose, when I was just 9 years old!
I’m writing this post for a number of reasons. Firstly because I believe there is immense power in it, because I believe we can learn a lot from it as a society, about the way we view children of alcoholics , and what we could best do for children of alcoholics of the future. Secondly…
How I see change for children of alcoholics!
In light of the amazing Liam Byrne’s campaign for change, and more help for children of alcoholics, I thought I’d outlay some of my thoughts. Firstly it was a great turn out at the all-party parliamentary group meeting on the 15th September, and great to hear some passionate input from a host of different people,…
Getting less anxious… About our anxiety!
Anxiety is something nearly every child of an alcoholic I have ever spoken to has had experience with in some form or another. So what is anxiety? A quick Google search and here’s the definition that comes up at the top- anxiety aŋˈzʌɪəti/ noun 1. a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about something with…
Don’t think yourself to death… Talk yourself to life!!
In light of the suicide prevention day on the 10th September I wanted to take a bit of time to share about the importance of talking. Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat… If you’re worried you are crazy, then I can tell you that YOU ARE NOT, crazy people have no idea they are…
Being a COA is a thing! 