Have You Known Many Alcoholics?

United States
September 27, 2026 12:21pm CST
I've been around a few alcoholics in my life. They were all what you would call "functional alcoholics" in that they were still able to hold jobs and live life, but always needed a drink in their hand. I've known a few "sloppy drunks" in my life but they weren't alcoholics. Their personalities just changed when they got drunk. One got violent. One got weepy. They say my grandfather was an alcoholic. He was my mom's dad. In his younger days he would hop freight trains and be a hobo for a while. This was after he was married and had 4 children. He lived in the inner city, never had a driver's license, and would sometimes sit on a bench with a brown paper bag wrapped around his 40 oz beer that he'd be drinking while people-watching. He got beaten up a couple of times by young men because he mouthed off when he was drunk. Otherwise he never hardly spoke two words when he was sober. My husband's dad died in 2013. He was an alcoholic but no one on the outside would have known it. When he had his heart attack and was in a coma for a few days, they had to administer him some kind of drug so that his body wouldn't go into DT's or alcohol withdrawal symptoms or whatever. When the doctor asked my MIL if he was an alcoholic, she got that "deer in the headlights" look like she totally didn't understand or was in denial. They could tell it from his blood draw results. Hubby had to tell the doctors yes he was an alcoholic. We finally had to take him off of life support. I would imagine that everyone has known at least one alcoholic in their lives. Have you?
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2 responses
@Wrexxo (8355)
•
2h
Yeah, I've known a couple too, its wild how different they all show up. Some hide it so well you'd never guess till something forces it out, like with your husband's dad. Thanks for sharing that, it was a lot to read but really honest.
1 person likes this
@nawala123 (23791)
• Indonesia
7m
I don't drink. When i was a teenager some people of my age in in my homevillage often drank at night. But i never joined them