Alice and her drink problem The Archers

Mouseybrown60, you're quite right - I'd forgotten about the pass at Harrison! Nonetheless, I still think Fallon is being a tad too holier than thou.

As for telling the family ... I'm not convinced it would help. There would be horror at her actions and thus the guilt factor would be intensified. I can't see them being sympathetic, caring and supportive and I wouldn't put it past Susan to influence Chris to move back with her and Neil, taking Martha with him.

If I was being supported by Adam I would move on to hard drugs I think. His voice/delivery drives me crazy.

Aeroplanes - she trained as an aeronautical engineer, and did work at that for awhile after her marriage - she had to commute to somewhere near Birmingham. My own take is that there are a lot of 'mother' issues in that family - Peggy did her best but was rather absent emotionally because of her need to make a success of the pub on her own. Jennifer has racketed around rather, and her very good handling of Ruari came after a lifetime of hit-and-miss parenting. Kate loves the whole idea of pregnancy & babies, but can't handle the actual children.
Adam has finally settled, thanks to Ian - whose job in Ambridge is to provide a lot of sensible support. Now Helen's OK, maybe he's got a slot for Alice!

I think its complex because Alice's means of support are probably part of why she is drinking. If she was honest her marriage to Chris has partly led to her failed ambition, Brian and Jenny's children were probably going to be damaged because well years of disfunction, Brian drinks a lot as does Lillian, and let's face it Kate is not going to be helpful. Alice feels suffocated by her family in my view, as she desperately said the plan was to build rockets (is that right?) but she is trapped in ambridge.

Iam64, as I recall it, the "support buddy" didn't stress to Alice just how important it can be for family and friends to know when someone (that they love and care about) is an alcoholic. It simply got "mentioned" and never discussed again when Alice said that she couldn't possibly do it. If Alice had done this, then surely Brian wouldn't have offered a bottle of wine, (presumably the first incident of many like this, when family/friends don't know about someone's alcoholism) and the persons close to her would surely offer support in various ways.

Davida1968, Alice’s support buddy, a recovering alcoholic gave the advice to tell family. I think Alice’s response was, she’d rather die

I am finding the story line particularly harrowing as I have a much loved member of my family struggling with addiction. We have found that although an alcoholic can go through detox generally it is the underlying mental health issues, unless dealt with effectively, that lead to relapse. Yes, family and friends need to be aware of the situation but the shame and guilt carried by the alcoholic makes them extremely secretive and ultimately, it is only the alcoholic that can make the decision to stop drinking, pressure from family and friends just isolates them further. It is a truly dreadful disease and most alcoholics cannot just stop drinking as the effects of withdrawal can be life threatening unless done gradually. The Archers has at least drawn attention to the fact that anyone can become alcoholic, regardless of education, class, family background and support and I can personally vouch for the pain and heartache that it causes.

Galaxy, I have known couples stay together, and keep a good marriage when one is an alcoholic. Yes, it needs honesty, and each couple works out their own way to handle it.
I would love to see this tackled realistically & well by TA.
I have to say that if I was in the Aldridge family, I would find it difficult to tell any of them, except perhaps Adam.

The thing is if Alice gets professional support it will unpick the reasons for her drinking. Either way if they pretend or are open and seek support the marriage is presumably doomed. It will be safer for Martha however if they get professional support, but I am afraid there is no happy ending for Chris and Alice as a couple.

I've been a dedicated Archer listener for decades, and IMO Alice (and Chris) must tell their family and friends, and deal with Alice's alcoholism issue head-on, instead of "pussy-footing" about. This way everyone can support them and no-one should unknowingly "enable" Alice's drinking. (Like Brian did, so unintentionally.) Unless I'm missing something, I don't think that anyone (yet) has said to Alice: "Look, you just have to tell your family and close friends and get them to help you; you simply can't do this on your own, and (whatever you may say to the contrary) without such support you are putting Martha at grave risk...."

Lilian is a very good example of the 'Ambridge effect'. I think she's 73 / 74 and anyone else would have felt the fall out of all that booze and all those fags!

Oh I hadnt realised Lee was self employed, I deal with a lot of physios but they are all NHS so I tend to forget the other options.
Lillian is also a problematic drinker I would say.

The only public servants allowed are doctors (Locke & Poole) and policemen (Harrison & George Barford). Yes Cathy was a teacher, but was only allowed to stay in TA if she gave it up and went to work at the Health Club. And Amy was axed soon after she qualified as a midwife.
Lee's physio practice does seem a bit elastic, encompassing whatever fits the plotline this week!
Jim is clerk of the Parish Council, but Ambridge functions with no other council employees to collect bins or any other maintenance. There is an occasional reference to environmental health or a building inspector, but no-one in Ambridge does those jobs.
It occurs to me that over the years, Ambridge has had more alcoholics (Jack Archer, George Barford & Alice) than nurses, teachers & social workers.

Yes, Galaxy, I’d been wondering when we ever had a public servant in TH. wasn’t Cathy Perks a teacher at one stage. We had a private facility for Alice’s detox. Lee is I think self employed but does some nhs work.
Henry and the unborn baby would have been the subject of a child protection conference anywhere but Ambridge. Henry would have been referred to CAMHS for appropriate therapy.
Martha definitely needs input from health, children’s services and so does her mum.

Yes if ever a child would need a social worker or other intervention its Henry. They dont like quite a few professions really, no teachers as far as I can remember, no one who works in the public sector, well Lee I suppose.

Thanks gransnet for adding The Archers tag.

I missed last night’s episode but saw on the various groups that Fallon reacted unsympathetically. Was Wayne, Fallon’s father a big drinker? If so, the two characters with direct knowledge of the damage caused to those who love a problem drinker have responded from pain and experience.

Thanks for the Peter Barlow update Doodledog. I stopped watching Corrie several years ago because I felt it had lost its ability to run pathos/serious story lines alongside humour. Good to see realistic portrayal. Alcoholism, addictions of any kind are life long issues.

Nana rose, your Archers anti nurse post made me smile. Social workers fit in the same category, they never appear, even when mummy stabs daddy.

If I was Fallon I would be pretty annoyed that Alice made a pass to my husband gulligranny!

Actually, they hate nurses in The Archers. I think there might have been a district nurse about briefly in the 60s. Amy has disappeared since she became a midwife - even though Alice might have found her helpful.
So determined were the scriptwriters to avoid nurses and midwives that they gave one midwife a clunky few minutes on Zoom - then Alice managed to be in a rehab centre with no nurses; give birth with Jim & Jazzer; have doctors undertake nursing & midwifery tasks, and arrange discharge with no follow-up.
So although I agree with OP, I am wondering what plot twists & turns the scriptwriters will come up so that no mental health nurses or health visitors come anywhere near the family.

They dont like women with ambition though, that's usually punished in the archers.

My word, Fallon has taken the moral high ground hasn't she! Not a word of sympathy or empathy, just condemnation - and she's supposed to be such a lovely person. Whilst I don't like Alice as a character, this is all being very well handled and I feel so sorry for her and what she's going through. I know how it is to be close to someone who is in the grip of addiction and it's tough for all concerned.

There have been Archer's men with problems. Sexual abuse, alcoholism (more than one), drugs, homelessness and suicide to name but a few...
Not just women.

Iam64

I’ve asked gransnet if it’s possible to add the archers to the OP

Thank you! That’s clear now.

Enjoying is the wrong word but I think it's a good storyline. I like the fact that they talked about imposter syndrome, even if they didnt use the words, I think that's an issue for many women. Also acknowledging in a roundabout way that her marriage is a disaster. I was quite moved when she talked about her dreams and ambitions, and for that to end in ambridge with Chris well I would be drinking as well.

To widen the discussion a bit (I don't listen to the Archers, but I think that this is an interesting thread), Peter Barlow in Coronation Street is also suffering - maybe dying - from alcoholism. I think the story has been handled well so far. He has always been a heavy drinker, and was diagnosed with cirrhosis after hitting the bottle again. He managed to stay sober for a long time, but difficulties in his relationship led to more binges, and he is now on the transplant list for a new liver, despite having been 'on the wagon' for six months or so.

When other soaps have dealt with the topic, the sufferers often reached peak alcoholism very quickly (usually over months rather than years) then either get a new liver, like Phil on Eastenders, and recover pretty much immediately, which is not realistic at all, or they go to a couple of AA meetings, like Linda (also Eastenders) and the plot lines move on as though nothing had happened.

I don't know what the outcome of the Corrie storyline will be, but either Peter will get a transplant or die waiting, so is already shaping up to be more true to life than usual.

I know it is entertainment, but I think it is better that viewers are shown the reality of drug and alcohol abuse, rather than see characters drinking until they need a new liver, get on immediately and then carry on as normal.

Sorry, I’ve just realised I’ve repeated what others have said. It really is a troubling storyline.