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Drunk 2 or 3 days a week - What is the problem?

answered 05:41 PM EST, Sat November 10, 2012
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anonymous anonymous
My brother doesn’t drink much on most days but about 2 or 3 days a week he has 7 or 8 beers and gets pretty drunk. I know this because he lives with me. He is 39 and he has been doing this for many years. He doesn’t think he has a problem but I am worried that this can’t be good for his health at his age…he is not a kid anymore. I have asked him to slow down but he says there is no reason to. I know he is drinking too much but it doesn’t seem like he needs rehab or AA or any of that stuff so I am not sure what I should be suggesting he do. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Jill Edwards Says...

You are perfectly correct to say that your brother's health will be affected by drinking way over the suggested limits and it would benefit him to have a chat to his doctor about the likely effects on his liver, pancreas, memory, heart system and so on. Alcohol affects all parts of the body. I would certainly suggest that he should take high levels of Vitamin B in order to reduce the brain damage. It is also true that when someone is drunk and do not have sensible control over their behaviour that they can take actions which have far reaching damage on their future, via accidents, fights etc. At that level of drinking it would also be useful to cut down over a period of a couple of weeks, not to stop suddenly.

Given all this, I suspect that the real problem is that you do not want to live with someone who is "getting pretty drunk" 2 or three days a week. It may be necessary for you to think this through. If you do not want this behaviour then you do have the right to give him the choice of modifying his behaviour or finding some other place to live. It is not easy to set out these alternatives, and I suggest that you contact Al-Anon so you have some other people to discuss your experience with and some help and advice in handling it. Think it through with some support before you take any action you are not ready to take.

Best of luck!

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Page last updated Nov 11, 2012

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