John says the most important thing he needs to remember is that he is an alcoholic. He says if he can remember that each day, he won’t go back to the life he used to lead; one spent wasted and drunk. He says his first drink was a child, at church.

Cynthia can remember never liking herself, even as a child. She remembers at age four hating herself. She thinks now it had to do with her family, who themselves were all alcoholics. She was afraid of bringing friends home as the police might be there ...

Dennis grew up in Brooklyn’s Breezy Point neighborhood, which all of his friends used to call “Boozy Point.” At age thirteen, working as a Cabana Boy, he would take beer from the beach club and host weekend bonfire parties for his friends.

Mark’s son’s addiction was out of control, but Mark knew no way to help. Problems began when his son, as a teenager, got arrested for possessing marijuana. Drug treatment and court-ordered programs didn’t help.

Carmen’s son Timmy was by all accounts a healthy young man. He was popular, athletic and charming. But he began using steroids after high school. That, Carmen says, lead to OxyContin abuse and eventual abuse of injected heroin. Click to play

Renee believes her son Adam was an addict from the first time he smoked pot in middle school; he almost immediately tried harder drugs culminating with “Special K.” That was an animal tranquilizer which leaves you in a catatonic, trance-like state.

Darryl Strawberry once held the world in his hands, as the premier slugger for both the New York Mets and Yankees, as well as the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Fransisco Giants.  But his fame and fortune became tarnished by addiction and carelessness...

Gary Mendell was a high-profile CEO of an exclusive hotel chain, overseeing an operation worth billions of dollars and yearly revenues in the hundreds of millions of dollars.  But he is also the father of an addict.  His son, Brian,

Greg Williams is the millennial filmmaker who directed and produced a feature film about recovery entitled The Anonymous People. Greg’s first drink was at age 12. He and friends scored some gin from their parents’ liquor cabinet.

Millie was rarely permitted to eat sweets as a child. Her parents believed in hearty, often unique, foods. When she got older, and had discretionary money, she indulged to her heart’s delight. She never felt she had a problem, though,