Scott D. had his first drink when he was 12-years-old. Years later, he would pick up his own children from school with a beer bottle on his lap while driving.

"That first drink... what it did for me. It just gave me that confidence I lacked. I even told a joke," he remembers of the first glass of wine in his pre-teens.

It took Scott D. decades to admit to himself he was an alcoholic.

His then wife's words, "I don't like you anymore", was the turning point.

"That hit me like a ton of bricks."

Now 49-years-old, he has been sober for 13 years since re-joining Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) in May 1997 ? after dropping out in 1990.

This week, Scott D. will join more than two million AA members worldwide to celebrate the 75th anniversary of its founding.

On June 10 in 1935, one of the co-founders, a physician who is known only as Dr Bob because of their tradition of anonymity, had his last alcoholic drink.

He and his co-founder, Bill W., also came up with the "24-hour concept" in that year, while seeking the best approaches to rehabilitate alcoholics.

The principle is based on the approach that alcoholics in rehabilitation should take their challenges one day at a time.

The origins of AA can be traced back to the Oxford Groups, a religious movement in the United States and Europe in the early 20th Century.

In the early 1930s, an alcoholic named Rowland H. visited the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung for help. "Jung said Rowland's case was medically hopeless and that he could only find relief through a spiritual experience," says Scott D.

He referred Rowland H. to the Oxford Group where Rowland H. met other alcoholics; all of whom who managed to stay sober by practising the Oxford Group principles.

That is where they met Bill W., who would become one of the AA co-founders after realising the value of alcoholics sharing their experiences with one another.

Scott D. says its rehabilitation programme is based on exactly what Jung said ? a spiritual experience.

"Alcoholism is a mental obsession and a physical craving. The solution is a spiritual one," says Scott D.

"The substance is not the problem, the problem is the person." In South Africa, AA has between 8000 and 10 000 members. Between seven to 10 percent of the world population is estimated to be alcoholics.

"An alcoholic affects at least 16 people's lives... everybody out there knows an alcoholic," says Scott D.

He can attest to the effects ? his mother and his grandfather were alcoholics, and Scott D's 27-year-old son has been a recovered alcoholic for seven years now.

The AA rehab programme is based on 12 steps, which include a person admitting that he or she is powerless over alcohol and that a only a "Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity".

Once alcoholics admit their mistakes to themselves, God and others, they "humbly ask Him to remove our shortcomings".

A list of those who had been harmed is drawn up to make amends.

Alcoholics must continue "to take personal inventory... seek through prayer and meditation" and after "having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps", the message is carried on to other alcoholics.

Scott D. says even though the twelve steps talk of God, people of all religions, including atheists join the AA.

The AA principles refer not to "God" but to "God as you understand him".

It defines alcoholism as a "primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations.

"The disease is often progressive and fatal. It is characterised by continuous or periodic: impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking, most notably denial."

This is the definition in the Journal of the American Medical Association published in 1992.

According to the AA website, 12 questions can be asked to determine if a person is an alcoholic. If the answer to any one of these questions is yes, "maybe it's time you took a serious look at what your drinking might be doing to you", states the website.

The questions are:

1. Do you drink because you have problems? To relax?
2. Do you drink when you get mad at other people, your friends or parents?
3. Do you prefer to drink alone, rather than with others?
4. Are your grades starting to slip? Are you goofing off on your job?
5. Did you ever try to stop drinking or drink less ? and fail?
6. Have you begun to drink in the morning, before school or work?
7. Do you gulp your drinks?
8. Do you ever have loss of memory due to your drinking?
9. Do you lie about your drinking?
10. Do you ever get into trouble when you're drinking?
11. Do you get drunk when you drink, even when you don't mean to?
12. Do you think it's cool to be able to hold your liquor?

AA is handing out pamphlets with contact numbers and information on AA gatherings in South Africa for Soccer World Cup visitors.
Anyone wanting to seek help, can call the national helpline on 0861-HELPAA or 0861-435-722 or go to the website, www.aasouthafrica.org.za.