I am actually glad this thread has resurfaced. A part of my own ptsd challenge is dealing with someone who had this disease of alcoholism.

The one thing individuals who have this challenge get good at is DENIAL. However, they also tend to BLAME OTHERS when things in their life get too challenging for them be it at a job or in a relationship. They may CLAIM to have empathy for others, but truth is THEY DO NOT, instead they tend to be extremely wound up in their OWN emotional challenges. And as they NEVER learned how to deal with their emotions, they turn to ALCOHOL as their method of COPING.

RED FLAG******RED FLAG******RED FLAG******* "I CANT REMEMBER, I WAS BLACKED OUT!!!!*****RED FLAG that means "I AM AN ALCOHOLIC AND CAN'T STOP". Blacking out is a huge RED FLAG that someone is an ALCOHOLIC.

15 Threatening Signs of Alcoholism - Page 16 of 16

The above link requires patience to read because of the pop ups. However, it does a good job at explaining this disease of alcoholism. Sorry I copied and pasted at page 16 out of 16. However, you can read it by scrolling to the next and instead of clicking on the next, click on the arrows meaning back or previous.

Truth is it is the true culprit behind MOST relationship failures, including making the WRONG choices in who to engage in a relationship with. And the MOOD CHANGES are due to NEEDING THE ALCOHOL to at least feel somewhat stable. There is no such thing as a FUNCTIONING ALCOHOLIC either and the longer someone engages the less they can function and the worse their BLAMING OTHERS gets. The TRUTH is seen in how the alcohol literally CHANGES THE BRAIN.

Actually an alcoholic doesn't think a partner who may be drug dependent is a deal breaker or a problem. HOWEVER, what that really means is if a partner is dependent then THEY CAN BE TOO.

An alcoholic learns how to take steps to AVOID being detected. They often choose VODKA as they believe that VODKA is not detectible on their breath.

There is NO TRUE RELATIONSHIP when it comes to this disease, that's because the TRUE RELATIONSHIP IS WITH THE ALCOHOL with the alcoholic. It is also not uncommon for an alcoholic to choose a partner who is also an alcoholic. And FRIENDS are not real friends, but instead others who drink and party which gives the alcoholic a form of company.

The disease of alcoholism is most definitely not an easy thing to overcome.

Often a person has to hit rock bottom, no job, no partner, and being alone WITH THEIR BOTTLE OF ALCOHOL if they can even have enough to get that bottle for them to finally admit that this disease has destroyed their life and they need help.

RED FLAG!!!! An ACTIVE alcoholic will NOT want to read this thread because they do NOT want to know, instead they prefer DENIAL.