Originally Posted by an'ka
So, how do you know when an alcoholic actually means it?
The alcoholic in my life is my daughter. In the begining I expected her to quit drinking and go the full sobriety route all the way. She has not been able to do that, but because she attends AA meetings a few times a week, and goes to a counsellor, she is moving ahead and things seem to be better with her.
Instead of drinking every night, she drinks about once a month. The terrible frightening episodes and crisis events are much reduced. I haven't had to rush to the hospital in months.
Basically, this approach is called "harm reduction". Even if the alcoholic cannot seem to attain full sobriety right off, a few months will go a long way to cleaning up his brain, his liver, his body, etc... Perhaps he is not getting full sobriety as fast as you would like, but if there is a reduction in his drinking, it might be better than nothing for now.
By the way, I believe that full sobriety is the ultimate goal for all alcoholics, I just think that some of them take a while to get there.