I did try that when I was younger because I did need help. However, at that time when I went there was a lot of encouragement for me to end my marriage. Because my husband did stop and committed to going to meetings I did not want to leave him because I respected the fact that he was trying.

At that time it was VERY stigmatized and when people found out there was a challenge I was pretty much black listed. People can be VERY cruel. Things were a lot different 30 years ago.

I gave my husband an ultimatum and he went to an AA meeting that same night and has not had any alcohol since. He admitted he had a problem and since then has been involved in staying sober and helping others to do the same. If he did not stop and see he had a problem, I would have divorced him. But he did not do that.

It IS important to get help if you stop drinking otherwise a person can become a dry drunk where they still behave badly even without the alcohol. Dry drunks can exhibit horrific behaviors. I think that is part of my older sister's problems. My husband has said several times that he wondered if she was a closet drunk or a dry drunk due to how off the wall her behaviors got.