Not my father...My friend. He's been an alcoholic for years now and my friend has been taking care of him since then. Mr. Smith (not his real name) is a good man despite his drinking problem. I would like to help my friend and Mr. Smith, but I'm not sure where to start.
Alcoholic here. There's nothing you can do. Either some circumstance will convince him to seek help, or he will get worse and your friend will likely pay the price. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but that is the nature of the condition. Alcoholics aren't necessarily bad people, they're just sick. Unfortunately, they will be convinced alcohol is the best medicine for as long as they can get away with it. Sobriety is ultimately better, but good luck convincing one.
Alcoholics have a Cognitive loop where its stability depends on the external chemical - alcohol - .
We have to be careful not to work on loose descriptions, such as -alcoholics see alcohol as medicine-, They see it as means to stabilize their brain chemistry, They are also well aware that it is not a medication or at all making them healthier.
The danger of being loose with language here, is it could very easily throw off public awareness, with people not aware of the issue, and worsen perspectives on alcoholics.
If we say, alcoholics think alcohol is medicine, the public not in the know, might think, alcohol is not medicine, alcoholics are stupid, they have no will power, they have no self control, they're bad people, and on and on.
But, that is not the case, Alcoholics have as much self control as a person who is attached to alcohol could have.. they are not stupid, they are chemically -unbalanced-.
But it is the case that the majority of older alcoholics are not cost effective to treat from the social planner perspective.
As a means of species-pride, to dictate to the universe that we humans never give in to environment, and will triumph over dependence, that's a stretch, it remains to be proven if this type of effort is truly impact-ful.
