Greetings from one Senior to another - I too am 59 or close enough to it. Started drinking when I was 10, found drugs at 15, honed my drinking at 17 in the Canadian Military and quit both at 25.
I had to do it through A.A. because, for me quitting was a complete life style change. I had to replace all my friends, because the ones I called friends at the time were the people I drank with. One of the other reasons I used the program was because, as it was pointed out early in my sobriety, only the 1st step of the 12, dealt directly with my drinking. The other 11 showed me the way to get better.