A recovering alcoholic who nearly drank himself to death while working from home is concerned the isolation of lockdown could prove fatal for those struggling.

Alex Molyneux, from Altrincham, found working from home nearly killed him as his dependence on drink took hold some years ago.

Alex, 54, now works helping others in an addiction clinic in Chesire. But he is deeply worried that during the pandemic others may head in the same direction as he once did – and that the help they need is less likely to be available.

Speaking about his own experience, Alex said: “My drinking really caught up with me in my early 40s when my then partner came home one day and found me collapsed.

“My pancreas had given up and my liver function was down to five per cent. I couldn’t lie to myself any more. I was an alcoholic.

“I’d always told myself that drinking was just a part of who I was. I worked hard and played hard. I’d built a successful business, had a Merc on the drive and I enjoyed a drink.

“In the months leading up to my collapse, things had started to unravel, but for years before that I really convinced myself I was in control of my drinking.”

Alex first tasted alcohol when he was just 10 years old, when he had been given a taste of wine to ease the pain of a broken toe at a family barbecue.

He said: “I loved the feeling it gave me. I’d always been an anxious child who felt I didn’t fit in but that all melted away.

“After that, I’d sneak drink regularly to give me confidence for school. By the time I got to university I was already drinking every day. It was the norm for me to down three bottles of cider a day.

“I was always the last man standing at any party and there’d always be a story to tell if I’d been there. I could always be relied upon to liven things up.”

Alex built a career importing clothing for high street retailers. He worked hard, travelled a lot and had his fair share of stress. He said he would tell himself he deserved a drink at the end of the day.

He added: “I never drank before 6pm, only drank Smirnoff vodka and wine that cost £10 or more a bottle. To me none of those things were things alcoholics do.

“In the evening I’d often down a tumbler of vodka to take the edge off before I could open and enjoy a bottle of wine.

“By the age of 30, I was drinking a bottle of vodka every day. I did what a lot of alcoholics do and set up my own business working from home.”

Not long afterwards, Alex’s social invitations began to dry up. He said people were bored of him demanding the party continued until 4am and he was no longer seen as the charming eccentric.

He said: “I no longer wanted to interact. The isolation suited me. At home, drink was only ever arm’s reach away.

“By the time of my collapse I wasn’t really able to function anymore physically or emotionally.”

Just before his collapse, Alex’s drinking got so bad that he began to vomit blood. He spent three months in hospital and had part of his pancreas removed.

Those three months were the first time in his life that he wasn’t drinking.

He said: “Without alcohol as a crutch, I had a total emotional breakdown. It took me three years to get myself back together, during which time I attended Alcoholics Anonymous. I wouldn’t accept much help and realise now I’d probably have got better a lot quicker if I had.”

Alex chose to switch his career to work in the addiction treatment sector and is now an admissions manager at addiction clinic Delamere, in Cuddington, Cheshire.

He said he’s happier than he’s ever been personally, but added the scale of addiction issues across the Manchester and Cheshire areas is “scary”.

Alex said: “Addiction affects everyone and it’s vital that more and better help is made available to people. The human and financial cost of not supporting people is too great.

“It’s inevitable that the additional strain people are under due to COVID-19 will exacerbate things, the isolation and working from home will allow problems to develop.

“Then, to make things even worse, public healthcare budgets are going to be stretched to the limit after all of this and under-investment in drink and drug treatment could get worse.”

Alcohol is recognised as the fifth biggest risk factor for death, ill health and disability in the UK, according to Public Health England.

For 15-49 year olds, it is the biggest risk factor.

According to Alex’s place of work, Delamere, in Trafford, 584 years of life per 100,000 population were lost to alcohol related conditions in a year, at the most recent annual count in 2018.

A rate of 44.2 deaths per 100,000 population were also found to be alcohol related in Trafford in 2018.

But, in better news, the borough is the only one across the whole of Greater Manchester that has a lower than average alcohol related deaths rate.

If you or someone you know needs help, details of support and addiction treatment services in Trafford can be found via the Trafford Directory pages here: https://www.trafforddirectory.co.uk/kb5/trafford/fsd/results.page?newadultchannel=3-1.