Alcoholism is a disease and there is not much you can do about it.
There is a rule about alcoholism and addiction in general called the 3 C’s rule:
– you didn’t cause your friend’s alcoholism
– you can’t control your friend’s alcoholism
– you can’t cure your friend’s alcoholism
Recovery can only come from him. First he needs to acknowledge that he is an alcoholic, From there, the only cure is total abstinence. He must stay away from alcohol, period. I recommend that he finds a support group like AA and attend meetings at least 2 or 3 times a week. Eventually he will need to get himself a sponsor.
Treatment are lengthy and costly. If he or his family can afford it, he should go to the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, CA. It’s a 90-day inpatient treatment. Cost is around $50,000 (it’s a medical treatment so it’s tax-deductible) but that might save his life.
Many times with alcohol things only get worse until the person hits rock bottom. It might be being arrested and spending time in jail, a DUI, losing a job, a spouse or ending up in a hospital after an accident caused by alcohol.
My suggestion to you Brian is to keep an eye on him, and get his friends and family involved. If you ever decide to have an intervention on him or just talk to him, it will be more efficient and powerful if you all come as one voice.
