He was in his thirties, married with three children and living in the city, going off to his "good job in the corporate world" each morning in his pinstripe suit.

The idea of alcoholism had always conjured for him the image of a lonely person sleeping rough, drinking from a bottle wrapped in brown paper.

In short, someone who was not like him.

Laurie is now approaching the age of 70 and has lived in Wagga for many years, where he is an active member of the local Alcoholics Anonymous community.

Laurie hasn't had a drink since his first AA meeting 35-years-ago, but reflects on the fact that things could have gone very differently.

In the 1980s, he had "money in the bank" and drove "nice cars", but behind his white picket fence he hid a terrible secret.

"I knew I was drinking dangerously," he said.

"[But] I couldn't relate to this idea of an alcoholic ... what my vision of an alcoholic was. And so naturally I struggled with the notion that I was an alcoholic."

Still, in those days, he always felt like he was "four schooners [of beer] short of normal".

"I reckoned that once I had three or four schooners I started to feel okay," he said.

"I had developed what's called the endless thirst, where once I started drinking, I couldn't stop. I was always saying I'll go to the pub and have one beer. But then one's too many and a thousand's not enough."

Laurie eventually reached "rock bottom" and felt he "could no longer function as a human being".

His intense sadness and love/hate relationship with drinking culminated in an attempt to take his own life.

"The black dog of depression had come to me through years and years of reckless drinking," he said.

"And so I thought I would end it all".

Laurie survived, which he calls "a miracle", and was soon introduced to Alcoholics Anonymous by a friend of his, a Catholic priest who also happened to be a member of AA.

He attended his first meeting soon after, where he admitted to the group - as well as to himself - that he had a problem with drinking.

It was here he discovered that people who were alcoholics came from "all walks of life".

"[Alcoholism] has an extraordinary kill rate. It's very often not identified ... I've sat in meetings with schizophrenics, I've sat in meetings with bipolar people, you know, people with depression, post traumatic stress," Laurie said.

"I've sat in meetings with judges and park drunks and some very important people too.

"The one common denominator among all of them is the amount of alcohol they're consuming dangerously."

The idea for Alcoholics Anonymous came from a conversation between two men, both heavy drinkers, in Ohio in the United States in 1935.

Today AA is an informal society of more than 2 million recovering alcoholics throughout the world, whose "only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking".

The first official Australian meeting is said to have taken place in 1945 and there are now more than 2000 local meetings around the country, including several in Wagga.

"Our primary purpose is to stay sober and to help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety," Laurie said.

Alcoholics Anonymous involves regular meetings where attendants share with each other the impact alcohol has had on their lives, which Laurie says involves "total freedom".

"You can be a member today and not be a member next week if you so choose," he said.

Over the years, tenets of the AA program and its famous "12 steps" have been criticised, in part for their spiritual overtones and the requirement for one to admit they are "powerless" in the face of alcohol.

Some researchers have questioned the usefulness of AA because at the time of its inception, 85 years ago, much less was known about the disease of alcoholism and its effects on the brain.

Yet Alcoholics Anonymous is a lifeline for about 18,000 people in Australia who currently attend meetings and have been in the clutches of alcohol addiction or know someone who has.

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It was where Laurie, whose resolve has lasted for more than three decades, learned he would have to "stay sober one day at a time".

"I never thought I would be able to stop drinking. And certainly my family wouldn't have believed it either," he said.

Laurie's marriage ended up breaking down, though he has maintained a close relationship with his children.

The usual set-up of Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous, which involves a group of people sitting together and talking, often in a church or community hall, is incompatible with coronavirus restrictions.

For now, AA and NA will be held online, with a password given to prospective members and people free to virtually attend meetings across the country.

Laurie said "the effectiveness" of AA brought him out of isolation, which is perhaps more prescient than ever as people find themselves increasingly secluded during the coronavirus shutdown.

"When the final story was worked out and told, I realized that I'd been in trouble with alcohol from day one, as a kid growing up in the bush, from day one. Drink one," he said.

"What would I say to a newcomer? You're not the only one to suffer from this problem. You're not alone."

People who wish to contact Alcoholics Anonymous in Wagga can call 0402 230 538.

For information about Wagga's Narcotics Anonymous call 0411 061 821.

*Laurie's name has been changed to protect his privacy.