In recovery, while researching her family tree, Rickeesha Binns discovered that her grandfather was an alcoholic. It was a tiny piece of the puzzle that mapped out her DNA and a massive clue to her transformation into a drug addict. Now 12 years sober, she is working on building a charity, Overcoming Obstacles.

A temporary licence helped to launch the initiative; she is seeking full status to help move it forward. She is motivated by her belief that addiction is avoidable and that people wouldn’t make choices that made them ill — if they knew better.

She said: “When people are hit with recovery they wonder, ‘How did I get here?’ They don't realise it’s a, genetics; b, childhood environment, so how you grew up; or c, it could be trauma. There are literally telltale signs of how you got here; there are literally symptoms.

“The main injustice is the lack of knowledge around the disease of addiction. It can be prevented just like any other disease and if you know the signs to look out for, you might do something different.”

Ms Binns recovered with the help of Caron Treatment Centres.

She is now a recovery services administrator at Pathways Bermuda, a non-profit that helps people in the community whose lives have “been devastated by addiction”, and is working towards certification as an addiction counsellor.

While there are other organisations that have prevention as part of their mandate, she says that Overcoming Obstacles offers something more.

“What's different about mine is that it’s my story. Nobody wants to really come forward lest they be shunned on their job or by their families, but I accept my whole story,” she said.

“Also what’s different is the type of information that I’m giving you. I’m not here to fix you today.

“I’m here to show you how you got here or how you can prevent coming here.

“If I can stop you from crossing that invisible line, my job is done. And if you happen to ignore everything and end up crossing that invisible line, then I hope that you’ll see me again somewhere; that you’ll know where you can get the help.”

Important for people to understand is that addiction is a “health crisis” that needs the same attention that has been given to schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other mental health conditions, she said.

“I got clean and I’m gonna tell you for me it was information [that did it]. Yes, it was me working [through] my programme. Yes, it was me implementing my recovery. But, the thing that kept me strong was the information.”

Ms Binns believes that prevention programmes such as hers can be used to educate even children in primary school.

“If you’re teaching children about the birds and the bees, then why not teach them [about this]? There are teen booklets, there are children’s booklets. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” she said.

Had she known about her family’s addiction history, she might never have had a drink or used drugs.

It’s only through the research she was required to do as part of her recovery that she learnt her great-grandfather was an addict.

“Some people think that if [a person doesn’t] know, it won't happen. That’s not the attitude to take.

“I can’t stop my daughter from the choices she makes, but I can say to her, ‘When you go to college or when you're hanging out with your friends, [if] you start playing drinking games, you need to watch how you handle your liquor versus your friends’.”

Like any other disease, addiction is the symptom of organ malfunction, Ms Binns added.

With alcoholics, the kidney is unable to produce the enzyme necessary to break down alcohol.

“That’s why you have what they call ‘tolerance’. That’s why I could be hanging out drinking wine with my friends and they get drunk, because their kidneys are working properly but mine aren’t, and so I can drink six, seven, eight, nine, ten glasses and still be cool.”

Loss of control is another sign. A classic example is someone who goes out only for happy hour and stays out until 5am. Also not uncommon: a person who intends to take just one hit of crack cocaine before they collect their child from school and is still smoking ten days later.

“Nobody does that in their right mind,” she said. “Your off switch is broken.”

Another sign of addiction: using despite adverse consequences.

“Are you physiologically dependent? Are you physically dependent? Do you have shakes and traumas? Do you drink just to feel normal? Your body’s not functioning right. That’s why you can smell alcohol on a person three, four days later and they haven’t had a drink — because now it’s coming through their pores,” she said.

“I really struggle with the lack of communication around the disease of addiction, the stigma that’s attached to it. People need to recognise it’s not a moral failing; it’s just an unhealthy person trying to get well, and that it can be prevented just like any other disease. If you knew the signs to look out for, you might have done something different.”

In her case, the alcoholism started with her great-grandfather and spread through his 12 children. All five of his daughters married men who abused alcohol; five of his seven sons abused alcohol themselves.

Drugs were on the scene by the time Ms Binns’s father came along. According to her “45 per cent of that generation became addicts”.

“And now, here I come,” she said. “I was scared to actually say anything, but I did it because my daughter's life was at stake. We’ve got to do it for the next generation.”

It’s why Overcoming Obstacles is so important to her. Ms Binns is grateful for the support she has received, particularly from Pathways Bermuda, Dale Butler and government MPs Tinée Furbert and Zane DeSilva and his wife, Joanne.

“I want to be able to have expos and career fairs, so that young people know the types of jobs or careers that you could have as a helper in the field.

“You might grow up in an alcoholic home, but you don’t have to become an alcoholic; you can become a helper.”

Five years from now, her dream is to have parish hubs where people can use USBs to learn how to teach their children to recognise the signs of addiction.

“You can even take out a drug screen and go and test your children. We’ll have resources here that will help you know where to go.

“There’s a whole slew of companies right here in Bermuda that address different parts of this issue, but you will never know what it is because, are we out there enough?

“So that is why I labelled it Overcoming Obstacles because I don't want it to be just about addiction. We will be a resource to direct you to wherever your hurt, habit or hang-up is.”

• For more information on Overcoming Obstacles, e-mail overcomebda@gmail.com