Today we see Dean celebrate his 21 years sober and as part of that great celebration Dean has written the short article below, enjoy

It doesn’t really seem 21 years since I was savagely beaten up (when I was too drunk to defend myself) and decided enough was enough – and quit drinking alcohol.

My 17 years career as a binge drinker was tumultuous with drunken highs followed by terrible lows when I had bad hangovers. Often, I also had to beg people for forgiveness for things I had done or said the night before.

I started drinking in public houses when I was 17 and it seemed an acceptable thing to do and almost everyone seemed to be doing it. At this time, my behaviour was not violent or anti-social. It was when I was a student at Bristol Polytechnic that my class hatred (silly but true) came to the fore and resulted in me hitting people I perceived to have been to a public school – they did antagonise me though. Retrospectively, I think I was lucky not to have been reported to the police.

The reason I lost control when I was drunk was that I was mentally ill and on a lot of medication.

My drinking career was not really a happy experience and occurred when I had money to go on a short binge. I can’t really blame anyone else for my bad behaviour. In addition, I did in fact damage my liver which consequently repaired itself.

Now 21 years on, my life is easier without alcohol, although I still suffer with OCD from time to time. But my general health is much better and I have more disposable income! I also feel I have an improved chance of finding peace of mind without alcohol in my life.

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