Once again Pelican you are right. I guess I accept this somewhat bitter offer of a way out from him.
It just breaks my heart that he's had such rough ride in life from early on and has ended up with so many issues, including alcoholism, as a result. It's not his fault, nor his choosing. He just wants to be happy and on an balanced level and can often see that he is not. I like to consider myself pretty balanced and I don't know if I could cope with the mental turmoil that goes around his mind. If he'd have had a different upbringing he would be such a brilliant bloke... we'll his is, but it's just so clouded by things like the alcoholism. It just seems so unfair that he so much to fight through as a symptom of problems earlier in life.
I want to wave my magic wand for him, and magically have him work through everything, but I don't know how. It worries me that he wont heal properly, and what that could mean in the further future.