My mother has been sober for over 30 years. She's sponsored too many people to number.
She is still the same paranoid, harshly judgmental, chronic complainer she has always been. She is the same person whether or not she's drunk or sober. Alcoholic just made it all that much worse.
The personality she hid in alcohol and drugs is now in the spotlight. We can all see it quite clearly even if she can't.