Photo: Mental Happy
Countless Polish people living in the UK struggle with alcoholism every day.
I spoke with Ania, who told me how Alcoholics Anonymous groups are vital for the recovery of Polish migrants.
“She told her story, and it felt like she was describing my own life.
“Everything was the same. All those feelings, all those moments when she hated herself for what she was doing, when she couldn’t cope with her emotions, and how she managed to overcome it.”
That was over nine years ago, when Ania, a Polish migrant in the UK, attended her first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting ‘from the heart’, as she describes it.
She is sober to this day, and says the Polish AA community has ‘truly changed her life’.
Every morning, she gets on her knees to pray for a good day. Every day, she puts sobriety first and asks her higher power to show her someone that needs help, which is ultimately the message of AA, and the reason it works.
Stronger Together
In 2026, AA’s presence can be felt worldwide: over 2 million members, in more than 123,000 groups, in 180 countries.
But why do these communities of alcoholics work for long-term recovery? Ania says that above all else, simply supporting each other by sharing stories is what has the greatest impact.
“At every meeting I attend, I hear about how someone acted, how someone felt, what they did in a given situation,” she says, “and each time I take something away from their stories, I find something to similar to what I’ve experienced, and when I’m in a similar situation, I can use it because I know it worked for someone else.”
There is a huge number of Polish-speaking AA meetings available in the UK, at different times, every day, anywhere.
“Currently, absolutely everything is served on a silver platter. There’s really no excuse.” Ania says, “You just need a strong desire. The will to change your life is enough.”
Ania stresses the importance of Polish language meetings for migrants, as it really allows people to fully express their emotions, without second-guessing sentences and translating in your head on the spot.
“I speak English well, but it is simply easier to express myself in Polish.” Ania told me, which is why she told me her story in Polish and I then translated it into English.
“The people at meetings are the same everywhere.” she adds, “Poland isn’t at the other end of the world; it’s relatively close to Great Britain. We have very similar cultures and behaviors, but it’s all about being able to express yourself from the bottom of your heart.”
Addiction recovery tools should not be hidden behind a language barrier. The UK is beautiful because of its cultural vibrancy, and in a modern world, there is no excuse for disregarding people because they speak differently to you.
Ania’s Story
Twenty years ago, Ania moved to England in hopes of a better life. Here, she met her first husband, and quite soon after gave birth to her daughter.
“I wasn’t an alcoholic, yet.” she says speaking in Polish.
When problems started to arise in her marriage, alcohol became an ‘escape from reality’.
“At first, I drank socially, but then I realized I was starting to hide the fact that I drank because I was a Polish woman.” she says, “It was in the back of my mind that a Polish mother, especially, has to appear so perfect to others.”
Although she thought she was in control by keeping her house clean and ensuring her child was well-cared for, she began to realize that a few social drinks weren’t possible for her anymore. Any time she had alcohol, she needed to get drunk.
Eventually, she was drinking in secret, sneaking drinks, hiding empty bottles and cans. She tells me that 90% of her female friends from AA also hid the fact that they drank. Ania feels Polish women are more likely to become addicted, trapped in a vicious alcoholic cycle, because they’re doing it in secret.
Secrets like these don’t stay hidden forever, though. Friends and family began to realise something was wrong, and Ania’s husband ‘humiliated her’, as he had dealt with an alcoholic mother in the past. The lack of support in her marriage ultimately led to their divorce.
“My whole life, I thought my husband was really my problem.” she says, so when she moved out, she thought, “If I get rid of this one problem, things would get better.”
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In reality, this was when her issues with alcohol really started to develop, because no one was checking in on her. “I’d driven myself to such a state that I was afraid to get out of bed, afraid to put my foot down on the ground,” Ania says.
Polish culture has a reputation for heavy drinking. A study by Polonia University found that up to 12 million Poles are affected by the impact of alcoholism, whether through their own addiction or witnessing a loved one struggle.
There is an expectation to drink strong alcohols and to drink heavily, particularly on special occasions, meaning it can be more difficult to realise you have fallen into alcoholism.
“You have to be mentally strong to overcome the homesickness, and many people may simply turn to alcohol to numb these feelings.”
She attended a few English-speaking AA meetings under pressure from family, but “she didn’t do it for [herself], and it simply didn’t work because [she] wasn’t ready yet.”
After that she travelled to Poland to a private addiction clinic, where she truly learned what AA is.
After flying back to England, she immediately drove to her nearest Polish AA group. At this first meeting, she heard the story of a woman who would become her sponsor, and guide her through the twelve steps. She would attend meetings daily, because, at this time, her parental rights had been terminated to only two hours of supervised care a week.
“That’s when miracles really started happening,” she adds. Four months in, her ex-husband noticed her true change and allowed Ania to have her daughter more often, much earlier than the end date of the original court ruling.
It wasn’t easy to regain her daughter’s trust. “At first, even when I was drinking tea or juice, she’d come up and sniff me to check I wasn’t actually drinking.” Ania says.
Today her relationship with her daughter has never been better and she has a new husband, who is also an alcoholic and puts sobriety first.
Both Ania and her husband still attend AA meetings every week.
Every day, alcoholics give back what they once received for free from someone at the beginning of their journey. Simply being a listening ear makes all the difference.
Ania’s friends in the AA community wish each other a good day every single day. Everyone could stand to learn from the positive attitude they bring no matter what.
