The case of two alcoholics
I will discuss two family members, one that I believe is an alcoholic and the other that is a recovering alcoholic. I believe the first has many factors of addiction. He grew up with an alcoholic father, had trauma in his childhood, was in Vietnam and has other family members that are addicts. He did not have a chance in my eyes.
It is psychological in that he has lack of tolerance for frustration and pain, lack of impulse control and lack of self-regard. It is genetic because his father was an alcoholic. He had a number of siblings that were also alcoholics. I think that the trauma in his childhood and having been in Vietnam played a role in his addiction too. He was never the same after Vietnam. He has PTSD and that could contribute to why he can’t quit.
The second had many genetic factors in her alcoholism. She had a father that was an alcoholic and also many siblings that were addicts. I think there were also hardships in her childhood that made her turn to alcohol. She decided to quit almost 30 years ago and has never relapsed. I do not quite understand how one can recover and the other just can’t. There must be more mental problems with the first than the second.
The first case is a very “friendly drunk.” He is happy, relaxed and giving when he is drunk. I think this is the only time his stress level is lowered. I think he is very scared to quit drinking because he would be depressed and always stressed out. I don’t ever see him quitting. He has become a “functional drunk.” I think he stays medicated all the time but at times drinks more and gets drunk.
The second case was a partier. She did it because it was very social and she liked going out. She was also very friendly when she was drunk. I think she quit because she felt guilty leaving her kids home with babysitters and didn’t think that was worth it. She never felt like she needed to start drinking again. I think she has more self-esteem that…