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Living Free

The Living Free Crew

Talk on substance misuse, alcoholism and other addictions. Information on support groups is given.

news & politics

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Kestrel and Kate

Living Free ·

2018/09/20

Kestrel and Kate both grew up with an alcoholic parent in a fairly dysfunctional household, with an absent dad and an angry brother.Kestrel started drinking from 12 year old trying to get the fun that she felt she was missing out on in life. She went on to be a party-girl through her late teens and 20’s until it started to interfere with work and she was made redundant. Unable to quit drinking Kestrel was saved when her cousin helped her into rehab, where she found Alcoholics Anonymous and a reason

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Gamblers Anonymous - Rachael

Living Free ·

2018/09/13

Rachael is a compulsive gambler who has managed to overcome her obsession with the help of Gamblers Anonymous. Growing up in an emotionally starved family, with plenty of isms, she felt lonely and started using drugs and alcohol before moving on to solitary gambling to fill the void. Rachael found it easy to gamble on the pokies and TAB as her work in hospitality gave her with plenty of opportunity. She soon racked up plenty of debts and became a liar, a cheat and a thief to be able to continue

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Al-Anon Family Groups - Yvonne and Phyllis

Living Free ·

2018/09/06

Yvonne’s dad was a heavy drinker who was pretty angry and controlled the family but she didn’t recognise it as alcoholism till later in life. After her son was born her relationship with her partner deteriorated and with help from a psychologist found Al-Anon Family Groups. Yvonne went to Al-Anon for over 4 years before leaving her partner and moving interstate to live. Separated from the drinking partner she stopped going to Al-Anon but returned when her son left home in his early 20’s. Yvonne

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Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous - Sally and Justin

Living Free ·

2018/08/30

Sally had a love of sugar from the start but didn’t really start to put on weight till she was around 14 years old. She was teased by her brother and other boys at school and was jealous of the thin girls. Around 15 Sally changed schools and got into drugs, alcohol and boys and lost weight. At 28 she realized that alcohol was a problem for her as she had little control and went into Alcoholics Anonymous to address her drinking, only to discover eating became the next problem. Sally went to

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Narcotics Anonymous - Sara and Nat

Living Free ·

2018/08/23

Sara grew up with a step-dad who was an alcoholic and she didn’t really like being at home and felt like she didn’t belong. She was sexually abused as a child and teenager before going into foster care in her mid-teens. Sara started using alcohol when she was around 11 years old, then marijuana at 12 and eventually ice at 15. She ran away from foster care repeatedly, was homeless for about 14 years and had two children in her late teens and early 20’s. Whilst in prison for the second time for

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Cheryl and Trish

Living Free ·

2018/08/16

Cheryl and Trish both grew up in families with an alcoholic parent that they feared and didn’t start drinking till their late teens or early twenties. Neither felt that they fitted-in as children and drinking was a means of achieving that social inclusion. Cheryl and Trish both married in their early 20’s and although vowing never to be like their alcoholic parent they soon progressed to daily drinking.In her 50’s, after repeated prompting from her adult children, Cheryl managed to stop drinking

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Gamblers Anonymous - Simon and Ian

Living Free ·

2018/08/09

Simon and Ian are compulsive gamblers but have managed to overcome their obsession with the help of Gamblers Anonymous. Although years apart in age they both started gambling compulsively in their mid-teens and continued gambling in TABs and other venues, stealing money and lying to workmates, family and friends before they sought help through GA. Ian hasn’t gambled for over 21 years and Simon for more than 6 years and both are now enjoying normal life and giving back to help problem gamblers.If

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Al-Anon Family Groups – Carol and Shirley

Living Free ·

2018/08/02

Carol grew up with an alcoholic dad and her two brothers and sister went on to become alcoholics. She became aware of the effects of alcoholism in her teens and suffered low self-esteem and was withdrawn from a very early age. Carol was married to a gambler for over 25 years, and then fell into a relationship with an alcoholic that turned violent. She went to Al-Anon Family Groups to get her partner to stop drinking and realized how much her dad’s drinking had affected her. Carol now has better

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Narcotics Anonymous - Marcus and Will

Living Free ·

2018/07/26

For Marcus, life was pretty interesting from the start, getting in to trouble at school and probably having undiagnosed ADHD. He was disconnected and obsessive from around 9 years old, stealing money to buy basketball cards and play video games. Marcus was always looking for excitement and started smoking weed in year 7, eventually leaving school in year 9. He got involved in crime to fund his drug use and started injecting heroin in his early 20’s. It was all downhill from here into a life of

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Jenny and Rachel

Living Free ·

2018/07/19

Jenny always felt like a bit of a loner as she moved schools often and her parents didn’t have much money. Drinking started in her mid-teens as she tried to fit in with her peers at a pre-party before a local disco and it transformed her from shy to bullet-proof. In year 11 she drank to oblivion and sought out venues where drink was available. Jenny started work, met her future husband while drunk at a pub as a 19 year old and went on to marry him in her early twenties. As her career progressed her

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Al-Anon Family Groups - Odette and Daniel

Living Free ·

2018/07/05

Daniel grew up with an alcoholic dad and suffered low self-esteem and anxiety from a very early age. He was very confused by the alcoholic’s behaviour and saw the desperation in his mum as she tried to control the drinking. Dan was the youngest of 6 children and felt pressured to leave school and go to work in his mid-teens. He worked really hard but started taking anti-depressants and seeing counsellors to deal with his increasing anxiety but didn’t realize that alcoholism was the major

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Narcotics Anonymous - Michael and Sandi

Living Free ·

2018/06/28

Michael and Sandi share their recovery stories, each growing up in families affected by alcoholism and where their parents split-up early. They initially tasted alcohol in their pre-teens before moving on to drinking and smoking weed in their early teens.For Michael, life got worse pretty quickly as he started chroming when his dad remarried and he left school at 15 years old and worked. He became violent to his parents; he left home to live with his girlfriend and started dealing drugs. His daily

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Lisa and John

Living Free ·

2018/06/21

Lisa realised very early on that a little bit of alcohol made her feel better but it was when she experienced it at a teenage party that it really hit the spot. It reduced her anxiety and Lisa no longer felt like an outsider but connected to the world. By 16 years old Lisa was a wayward teenager and drinking more frequently, she left home, left school and started to work and lived with her grandmother. Lisa’s drinking continued during her twenties as a single working mum with a young child. As her

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2018 Living Free Radiothon

Living Free ·

2018/06/14

Today’s guests are DAVID, a member of Alcoholics Anonymous; YVONNE, a member of Gamblers Anonymous and DREW, a member of Narcotics Anonymous, together with Astrid.The Radiothon theme this year is Fight for your Mic! That pretty much sums up LIVING FREE – by sharing recovery stories we’re talking about changing lives for alcoholics, gamblers and food and drug addicts, and their families. Remember, your support will keep our message of HOPE on the airwaves.You can financially support LIVING FREE and

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Al-Anon Family Groups – Maree & Sylvia

Living Free ·

2018/06/07

Sylvia grew up in a relatively poor farming family that avoided alcohol and she met and married a farmer when she was in her early twenties. She soon had three children and her husband’s drinking wasn’t a problem until the children left home. Sylvia’s marriage then slowly deteriorated and a tennis friend suggested that she go to Al-Anon Family Groups to get some help. She now understood how the family disease of alcoholism worked so that when her husband eventually divorced her she was able to use

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Trial Medically Supervised Injecting Centre - Judy...

Living Free ·

2018/05/31

Judy and Colin outline the progress of the Trial Medically Supervised Injecting Centre development and how the residents group have continued to advocate for its acceptance and successful implementation in July 2018.Residents for Victoria Street Drug Solutions (RVSDS) is a group of City of Yarra residents from North Richmond and Abbotsford, who are directly and personally affected by the high levels of public drug taking and illicit drug dealing within the precinct. They successfully advocated for a

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Narcotics Anonymous - John and Dave

Living Free ·

2018/05/24

John and Dave share their recovery stories, each growing up in a loving family they initially started drinking in their early teens before moving on to smoking weed then onto serious drugs.For John, life got worse pretty quickly as he was kicked out of home at 16 years old and as a homeless street kid joined a gang and started a life of drug use and crime, leading to youth detention. Homeless and taking care of his young son didn’t stop his drug use until his 16 year old son decided to leave him and

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Geoff and Dan

Living Free ·

2018/05/17

Geoff was born in Scotland and grew up with an alcoholic dad and with friends that drank heavily. He started drinking around 15 years old and was able to get into pubs underage. Geoff managed to get through university and into work while maintaining a heavy drinking load. Problems came when married with two kids the family migrated to Australia and his marriage broke down. Eventually Geoff found AA and has been sober for 11 years. He has remarried and has managed to re-establish now had good

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Gamblers Anonymous – Tim

Living Free ·

2018/05/10

Tim’s dad was a compulsive gambler and he started early to follow in his dad’s footsteps. Gambling on anything that ran, he avoided the pokies as they held no interest for him. Joining the Army didn’t stop his gambling and gave him a steady income to continue it unabated. Tim tried Gamblers Anonymous in 1986, stopping gambling for brief periods and then returned again in 1996. It wasn’t until he got involved in helping others in GA and did the Steps that his life finally turned around.If you’re

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Al-Anon Family Groups – Jason & Victor

Living Free ·

2018/05/03

Jason grew up with an alcoholic mum, although it took him many years to realize that her drinking was a problem because of his dad’s controlling and abusive behaviour. Jason began drinking in his early teens and started to get into trouble. He was anxious and always trying to conform to others. Eventually he married and moved frequently to get a new start in life, eventually moving from Canada to Australia. Jason found Al-Anon after being in another 12th step group (CODA) for a couple of years. In

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Living Free

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