Jim’s Story

As a child, I was raised in a strict environment with my father. There wasn’t much room for emotions, mistakes, or feeling understood. I learned early in life to hide my feelings and try to appear strong on the outside, even though inside I often felt insecure and not good enough.

Those feelings carried into my adolescent years. Around the age of 13, while visiting my cousins, I started experimenting with alcohol. I quickly discovered that alcohol gave me relief from fear and insecurity. For the first time, I felt comfortable in my own skin, and I fell in love with alcohol almost immediately.