Hi Moose, there is also Alanon meetings you can attend too that are for families of those who have alcohol addition problems.

What they have been discovering about alcoholism is that "some" individuals begin using alcohol to escape the symptoms they are experiencing from trauma. Often once an individual gets sober it's not unusual they discover they have ptsd and have to not only learn how to stay sober but also begin working through their ptsd issues.

The other thing that can happen is how some individuals become binge alcoholics because they are bipolar and often drink when manic.

So, often the alcohol is a form of self medicating with a person that slowly becomes an addiction/lifestyle. I also discovered as my husband is a recovering binge alcoholic who's now been sober for 28 years, that many of the individuals in the AA rooms struggle with ADHD.

They are also learning that certain people are more prone to becoming alcoholics if they drink alcohol and that it's hereditary. Some alcoholics get very mean when they drink and some are happy drunks. And yet others black out and continue to drink yet they don't even remember what they did while they drank and can even wake up in another state dazed and confused. My husband experienced blackouts would come home and not even remember when he came home or what he did when he got home. This can be scary to live with.

I had a friend that died of alcoholism despite our efforts to take her to meetings and be there for her. I would sit in her car and talk and talk to her, she wanted to stop but just could not quit. She was only maybe early 50's when she died.

My father was a binge alcoholic. I did not even know what that was and I married a binge alcoholic so I have dealt with that disease my entire life in someone I love. Ofcourse, there is a lot more awareness now than when I was young and dated and married my husband. My dad denied he had a problem because he could go for a while without drinking. I don't think HE knew about binge alcoholism either. However, I also think my father had some ptsd issues from what he experienced while serving in WWII. Men tended to hide their problems in that generation. There was not much openly discussed about trauma and ptsd in that generation like the awareness and growing openness about these challenges now.

Some may benefit by going to AA meetings, perhaps even going to a speaker meeting where someone gets up and tells their story. I think it all depends on the individuals that meet in certain groups and tend to frequent the same meetings.

It's hard on the person/family members/spouses because they end up living their lives around that disease often like me, their entire lives and it does create challenges and you just never seem to have that entire person you would like to love really there.

Perhaps do a search and find out if there are any alanon meetings near where you live. It's nice to have someone who can relate to what life is like for those who have someone in their life that has alcohol/addiction issues.