Shift, I never drank at all until my mid-forties. At that point, I had a perfect storm of two teenagers, a husband who travelled all the time and a stressful job. I self-medicated with alcohol to relieve my depression/anxiety and to sleep. I got hooked almost immediately and drank a lot for about three years. I had no support when I knew I needed to stop, but thankfully I managed to stop drinking and begin the long process of working on myself.