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Mark never saw himself as having a drinking problem — he only drank socially. But as IVF struggles, parenting pressures and a demanding job piled on, the boundaries began to blur. When he and his wife’s twins arrived prematurely, exhaustion set in. Sleepless nights and stress deepened his reliance on alcohol. What began as a glass of wine to unwind became a bottle each night, straining his marriage, work and mental health. Mark tried AA, rehabilitation, counselling and medications. But because the underlying mental-health challenges weren’t addressed, each attempt at sobriety was short-lived — when stress returned, his depression deepened, and so did the drinking. Mark’s story reflects what many Australians quietly face. Between 2020 and 2022, around 40 per cent of Australians surveyed experienced a mental or substance-use disorder, with one in five affected in the previous 12 months.
