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Frumious Bandersnatch
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Alcoholic confesses she'd rather die than quit drinking as it is all she's known since becoming addicted aged 15
An alcoholic has opened up to Louis Theroux about her heartbreaking addiction in a new documentary for the BBC.
Only revealed by her first name - Aurelie - the 45-year-old who lives in a council flat in Brixton, London, admits drinking has ruined her health and her future.
She had to quit her job as a private French teacher because she kept turning up 'paralytic' and says her addiction left her infertile.
But after starting to drink at the age of 15, she said it is all she has ever known and she can't imagine a time when she doesn't start the day by downing a can of cider.
Despite warnings from doctors that her addiction could kill her as she has serious liver damage, Aurelie said: 'I am more afraid of stopping than to die.
'I drink to bring me back a bit of confidence. If I stopped I would be a completely different person. I started drinking when I was 15 so it has been 30 years of constant abuse.
She said of stopping drinking: 'It would be like taking the roots out of a tree, it would never work.'
The TV presenter met Aurelie, when he spent time at King's College Hospital in London.
He interviewed people at the specialist liver centre to immerse himself in the lives of patients in the grips of alcohol addiction and the medical staff trying to make them better.
For Aurelie, they have found there isn't much more they can do because she hasn't been willing to commit to the treatment options available, such as detoxing.
One doctor tells her: 'Your health is progressively deteriorating. We are struggling with a way forward as most of the things we can do are old news to you. Have you gone beyond caring?'
She admitted of the doctor's advice: 'I decide not to hear it. I am surprised I am still alive anyway.'
She adds that she believes a 'miracle' is her only way out of alcohol abuse.
Louis visits Aurelie at the home she shares with her dog, Romeo, and was intrigued to discover why she had started a relationship with another drunk, revealed only as Gary, 40.
The father said his addiction to alcohol has cost him his job and his family.
He said: 'I know I drink too much because I want to blank things out in my life like relationships, kids I can't see any more because I lost them through the alcohol and everything else - job, houses.
'I used to be rich and now I am poor. I drink eight to ten cans of lager minimum on a good day. If I go to a party it will be 24 and vodkas.'
As he gets progressively drunk during his interview, he insults and puts down Aurelie, calling her 'that thing' and bragging about sleeping with an ex girlfriend the night before.
After he left, Gary asked Aurelie: 'What is the appeal of Gary? If he is undermining you and saying hurtful things?'
She admits her self-worth is so low she doesn't believe she can do any better.
She said: 'Who wants to go out with an alcoholic? Who wakes up in the morning and has to have a drink straightaway? Who is overweight from the alcohol and can't have children because of the destruction with alcohol? It is not very attractive.'
Aurelie reveals she started drinking after spending five years in a children's home after her parents split up.
She said she doesn't even like the taste of alcohol any more saying it tastes 'disgusting' and like 'petrol'
But she is now so dependent on it, she feels ill she she stops drinking. As another patient admits to Louis of detoxing - 'withdrawing feels like dying as a person'.
During the documentary, Louis meets other people like Aurelie who have found it impossible to stop drinking - even when it is killing them.
He said: 'Rather than judging them as people who made bad choices, I had come to see those in the grips of alcohol addiction as suffering from deeper emotional issues, taking life's setbacks too hard and attempting to numb themselves with drink.
'Endangering their own lives, they pose a challenge for those around them for how best to help, how to break through and when to walk away.'
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3554192/Alcoholic-die-quit-drinking.html#ixzz46mi4n100
An alcoholic has opened up to Louis Theroux about her heartbreaking addiction in a new documentary for the BBC.
Only revealed by her first name - Aurelie - the 45-year-old who lives in a council flat in Brixton, London, admits drinking has ruined her health and her future.
She had to quit her job as a private French teacher because she kept turning up 'paralytic' and says her addiction left her infertile.
But after starting to drink at the age of 15, she said it is all she has ever known and she can't imagine a time when she doesn't start the day by downing a can of cider.
Despite warnings from doctors that her addiction could kill her as she has serious liver damage, Aurelie said: 'I am more afraid of stopping than to die.
'I drink to bring me back a bit of confidence. If I stopped I would be a completely different person. I started drinking when I was 15 so it has been 30 years of constant abuse.
She said of stopping drinking: 'It would be like taking the roots out of a tree, it would never work.'
The TV presenter met Aurelie, when he spent time at King's College Hospital in London.
He interviewed people at the specialist liver centre to immerse himself in the lives of patients in the grips of alcohol addiction and the medical staff trying to make them better.
For Aurelie, they have found there isn't much more they can do because she hasn't been willing to commit to the treatment options available, such as detoxing.
One doctor tells her: 'Your health is progressively deteriorating. We are struggling with a way forward as most of the things we can do are old news to you. Have you gone beyond caring?'
She admitted of the doctor's advice: 'I decide not to hear it. I am surprised I am still alive anyway.'
She adds that she believes a 'miracle' is her only way out of alcohol abuse.
Louis visits Aurelie at the home she shares with her dog, Romeo, and was intrigued to discover why she had started a relationship with another drunk, revealed only as Gary, 40.
The father said his addiction to alcohol has cost him his job and his family.
He said: 'I know I drink too much because I want to blank things out in my life like relationships, kids I can't see any more because I lost them through the alcohol and everything else - job, houses.
'I used to be rich and now I am poor. I drink eight to ten cans of lager minimum on a good day. If I go to a party it will be 24 and vodkas.'
As he gets progressively drunk during his interview, he insults and puts down Aurelie, calling her 'that thing' and bragging about sleeping with an ex girlfriend the night before.
After he left, Gary asked Aurelie: 'What is the appeal of Gary? If he is undermining you and saying hurtful things?'
She admits her self-worth is so low she doesn't believe she can do any better.
She said: 'Who wants to go out with an alcoholic? Who wakes up in the morning and has to have a drink straightaway? Who is overweight from the alcohol and can't have children because of the destruction with alcohol? It is not very attractive.'
Aurelie reveals she started drinking after spending five years in a children's home after her parents split up.
She said she doesn't even like the taste of alcohol any more saying it tastes 'disgusting' and like 'petrol'
But she is now so dependent on it, she feels ill she she stops drinking. As another patient admits to Louis of detoxing - 'withdrawing feels like dying as a person'.
During the documentary, Louis meets other people like Aurelie who have found it impossible to stop drinking - even when it is killing them.
He said: 'Rather than judging them as people who made bad choices, I had come to see those in the grips of alcohol addiction as suffering from deeper emotional issues, taking life's setbacks too hard and attempting to numb themselves with drink.
'Endangering their own lives, they pose a challenge for those around them for how best to help, how to break through and when to walk away.'
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3554192/Alcoholic-die-quit-drinking.html#ixzz46mi4n100
