Originally Posted by
VerySad 
I'm married to a functional alcoholic and it's crushing my spirit. My husband is very smart, college grad, multi-millionare, successful person.
How do you define, "sucessful person?"
Do you base your definition on monetary wealth, career, homes, cars, etc...
Or, is a sucessful person one that respects others, is honest, has several, meaningful connections with other people, and is helpful to others?
In my mind, there's no such thing as a "functional" alcoholic. Alcoholics that have money, a good job, never been arrested, etc. are just better at fooling others. Those are all tangible things that are no measure of a person. The important stuff (honesty, respect, integrity) is where the real malfunction occurs.
How is it that a functional human being could crush the spirit of another?