Alcoholic shares harrowing 12 hours that made him reach out for help

A Sikh man attending an alcohol recovery meeting revealed his '12-16 hour alcohol and cocaine binge' prompted him to finally seeking help. It is one of many harrowing stories of addiction from the Sikh Recovery Network.

The meeting took place in Oldbury, November 13 as part of the organisation's goal to provide faith-based addiction support for South Asians, particularly Punjabi Sikhs. The service was founded by Jaz Rai, a recovering addict, who dedicates his life to battling the dark cloud of alcohol addiction hanging over the Sikh population.

He argues drinking is normalised in Punjabi culture and cultural-specific support is needed for addicts. Birmingham Live attended a recovery meeting where local men, all anonymous, shared their stories of addiction.

Read more:I spent an evening with Sikh men in alcohol recovery and one story broke me

One opened up: "This is my first meeting. I had a 12-16 hour alcohol and coke binge, I rang SRN and said 'I need help'. I drink because of bereavement I have not dealt with and guilt, also loneliness."

Another said: "I have been off drinking for two and a half years but I got into cocaine. There was always an excuse to drink like weddings where I'd have more than anyone.

"The cocaine, like the alcohol, got worse. Mentally my thoughts were always down and the come down from drugs makes you feel so low.

"Now drinking doesn't give me pleasure anymore, it's mad how us addicts think. I won't pat myself on the back yet.

"I told my wife which really helped me to fight, I also told my parents but deep down they already knew. I had no path but SRN gave me a path."

Another man shared: "I was always associated with people who drink and treated everyday like a party, until I was the only one at the party. Between age 18-45 I drank everyday so this is my first year in recovery."

While another said: "I thought I was in control of drinking but it was in control of me. I came to SRN as a volunteer and realised this on a retreat, I'd drink to take the edge off the day in a malicious cycle.

"I could find a reason to drink for everyday of the week. You say things to your family that you can't take back so now I am on the road to recovery.

"I want to be present for my children and enjoy life now."

Another at the meeting shared: "I don't drink everyday but when I do I'll carry on, even after everyone has gone home. It is culturally accepted at weddings, births, parties and is so frequent and normalised."

All attendees including Jaz spoke about how common drinking was in Sikh culture despite religious scriptures forbidding it. The tradition goes back to Indian immigrants drinking their stress away after factory shifts in the Black Country.

The group also argued drinking is romanticised in Punjabi song lyrics, also women were increasingly drinking despite the gender taboo. SRN caters for women as well but none could attend the meeting, figures from SRN and British Sikh Report's 'Impacts of alcohol consumption among Sikhs' report revealed women were increasingly drinking problematically.

Significantly, the group revealed the normalisation of drinking in Punjabi culture started their alcoholism. The report also revealed 61 per cent of Sikhs living in Britain (64 per cent men and 56 per cent women) currently consume alcohol.

Jaz said: "Drinking has become a competition sport where if you drank below the cup line you were made fun of so you had to drink more. In here we feel safe not just from addiction, its amazing the way people share.

"We have retreats in youth hostels in the countryside where addicts can open up in a non-judgmental space. We also have a 90 day programme where we make addicts do things to keep busy like creative activities, exercise or praying.

"The prominent Sikh bodies are responsible for talking about this, we can't keep doing fashionable things like seva (selfless service) to make us look good. We need to be open about the uncomfortable."

Kameldeep Singh Samra, a volunteer support worker, said: "We are just sticking plasters on the problem but we want individuals to come out and then help others, this starts the cultural shift. We spend so much on weddings but Covid showed us we can do small weddings and drink less. Sikhs are an affluent community but at what cost?"