SCOTLAND is a nation that likes a drink. We’re world famous for whisky and when we take in the bells on Hogmanay we do so with an alcoholic beverage in hand. However, lots of evidence suggests that maybe we as a nation like alcohol a little too much.
In 2021, 1245 people died due to alcohol. Moreover, one quarter of the population consumes a harmful amount of alcohol on a weekly basis.
David Milne knows all too well about the problems alcohol consumption can cause. He drank for 25 years. After several attempts to get sober he finally succeeded, and has now dedicated his life to helping other people struggling with addiction.
Care with a difference
ONLY four months into sobriety David felt the urge to help others dealing with alcohol abuse. He tried to volunteer at a number of services, but they all told him he had to be sober for at least a year. David then contacted Community Alcohol Related Damage Service (CARDS) which is ran by the charity Rowan Alba. CARDS allowed him to do volunteer work and viewed him as an “expert in himself”.
CARDS is a befriending scheme where volunteers spend one hour socialising with a client every week. “Volunteers hang out with clients as equals,” David explains. “There is no power imbalance or judging. Some people have forgotten what it’s like to have a friend and a positive relationship with somebody”.
Jimmy is a client of CARDS and says the time he spends meeting the volunteer offers an escape from his mental health challenges. Jimmy now considers the volunteer to be a good friend.
Helen, another client of CARDS, says her volunteer Emily is one of the only constants in her life – and describes her support as incalculable.
Those with problematic relationships with alcohol often encounter a lack of empathy and understanding when dealing with alcoholism services.
“I went to the doctors and said ‘I’m an alcoholic’,” David recalls. “Probably the biggest admission I’ve made in my life and my doctor replied ‘I’m going to give you these tablets and refer you to these people’. And that was it, there was no humanity there, no acknowledgment of how big an admission that was.”
“In order to go to the meeting I’d been referred to I had to be sober. So I’ve got to not drink to go to the clinic appointment but my problem is that I can’t stop drinking.”
Unlike the conventional help offered to people addicted to alcohol there is no enforced sobriety or need to keep a drinks diary to get help from CARDS.
David said: “A lot of people’s experience with alcoholism services is being let down. They get turned away because they're intoxicated or because they can’t keep a drink diary. CARDS doesn’t let people down”.
David tells a story about someone who kept cancelling CARDS appointments. He phoned him up and asked if he was OK. The man replied: “Simply knowing you’re there is enough.” Now this person engages regularly with CARDS and is sober.
Empathy is at the core of what CARDS does. To not force anything on the client and respect them as a person enables them to build positive relationships. This allows clients to seek further help when they want to.
Addiction must be viewed differently
WHEN the doctor prescribed David pills for his drinking they were looking at alcoholism as a physical addiction – but it’s also a mental addiction.
Even after going through severe withdrawal periods to get sober David would return to drinking. He saw alcohol as his friend. It had always been there for him.
“I didn’t think there could be a life after alcohol,” says David.
After drinking beer for the first time as a young teen, David felt that being inebriated was his preferred way of being. It had been that way for decades by the time he sought help for his addiction.
‘Rehab should be made available when it’s necessary’
“NOBODY listened to the individual,” David says. “Somebody could say to a GP ‘I want to go to rehab and go through a detox’ and they would be told they can’t do that or you’re not ready for that.”
One of the biggest obstacles to receiving help is that rehab can be incredibly expensive. David paid around £18,000 to go to Castle Craig rehab centre for six weeks. He would like to see rehab be made available to people when it is necessary and for it to be subsidised by the Government.
“My last nine years in sobriety have been amazing, liberating and joyous,” says David. “Getting myself sober was the best decision I’ve made in my life.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We welcome the work being done by CARDS – we know the value of people with lived experience helping others to tackle problem alcohol use.”
If you would like to seek help for your alcohol addiction, visit https://www.edinburghadp.co.uk/services/cards/ – and if you would like to volunteer with CARDS visit, https://rowanalba.org/volunteering-for-cards
