New Delhi, Feb 14: At DMA House in Daryaganj, the Delhi Medical Association (DMA) and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) Delhi Region brought doctors and recovering alcoholics onto the same platform for a public information meet on alcoholism. The focus was direct: addiction as a medical condition, its impact on families, and the path to sustained recovery.
Doctors confront the reality in their clinics
Dr. Girish Tyagi, President of DMA, spoke from clinical experience. He said patients usually approach doctors after months or years of damage.
“When a person drinks compulsively, the suffering does not remain confined to him,” he said. “The wife suffers. The children suffer. The parents suffer.”
He explained that many individuals conceal their drinking from family members. However, once they sit across from a doctor, they often speak honestly. “People hide things at home. In a doctor’s chamber, they open up.”
Dr. Tyagi shared that addiction has affected his own extended family. Even during hospital admission, he said, the compulsion to drink did not stop. The individual tried to negotiate, conceal, and continue. “Addiction overrides logic,” he said, underscoring that alcoholism is not a simple matter of willpower.
DMA represents nearly 18,000 doctors across Delhi. Dr. Tyagi announced that the association will activate its 30 branches to support awareness efforts. DMA will sensitise doctors, appoint nodal officers, and place informational posters or material in clinic waiting rooms so families can quietly seek guidance.
“This initiative is not about benefit to the association or any individual,” he said. “If even one family finds relief, that is enough.”
“I Lived in the Dungeons of Alcoholism”
A recovering member, now 58, described the depth of his addiction without dramatics.
When he first came to AA, he weighed around 40 kilograms. He had visited doctors, consulted religious figures, and tried to control his drinking. Nothing sustained sobriety.
“I did not know what day it was. I lived in isolation,” he said. “Those days were painful.”
He described alcoholism as a physical compulsion combined with mental obsession. After the first drink, he could not stop. Even when physically ill, he continued.
“The solution for me was a change of heart — a spiritual awakening and emotional rearrangement,” he said. “Money, power, or status did not solve my problem.”
Through AA, he adopted a structured recovery process that included sponsorship and Sponsorship and the 12 steps of recovery with the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous which is translated in 75 languages originally published in 1939 by a hundred men and women who recovered from alcoholism. He stressed that recovery requires connection. “You cannot do this alone. You need a sponsor. You need guidance.”
Today, he is employed, supports his family, and faces life’s uncertainties without alcohol. “Earlier, small events would destabilise me completely. Today, I remain steady from within,” he said.
The cooperation between DMA and AA attempts to combine medical intervention with peer-led recovery. Doctors can manage withdrawal, treat organ damage, and address psychiatric symptoms. AA provides long-term community support built on shared experience.
AA representatives reiterated that the fellowship does not align with any religion, political ideology, or institution. Membership requires only a desire to stop drinking. The programme does not charge fees and sustains itself through voluntary contributions.
A clear message
The meet delivered a straightforward message that, addiction does not remain confined to one person; it disrupts the entire family. It cuts across education levels and social status, affecting people from all backgrounds. And in most cases, lasting recovery requires structured medical care and community support, not isolation or willpower alone.
For families struggling silently, doctors urged early consultation. For individuals caught in cycles of denial and relapse, recovering members offered evidence that change is possible.
The event closed without slogans or exaggeration — only with a commitment to expand awareness and protect the dignity of those who seek recovery.