Originally Posted by Bucyn

Of course, if the person is PURPOSEFULLY stepping on the sharp rock over and over and refuses to stop inflicting pain on themselves, well... that's different, isn't it?

There's hardly an alcoholic who doesn't truly know s/he's got a problem. It's kind of clear with the being sick all the time, lost jobs, the lost relationships, the bitter fights with loved ones, the mounting failures, and the people telling you straight out: you need to stop drinking. There's a clue of some sort. "Denial" is never so strong that the truth/realization doesn't break through eventually: "This pain is caused by stepping on sharp rocks."

Alcoholics may accidentally get themselves addicted, slide into it unaware, I acknowledge that fully--nobody drinks with the goal of becoming an alkie--but eventually every alcoholic I've ever heard of admits, if only for a few moments that they have a drinking problem and need to get it under control. And then they choose "denial", ie, choose not to enjoy the sunset, beach, hand-in-hand partner, they chose to step on the sharp rock again, they chose to be oblivious to the good stuff around them, they choose the pain, blood, and sharp rock.

And when it gets to that point, is the loving partner really expected to muster up continual sympathy and halt their own journey along the beach to tend to the endless, pointless, crisises of the other who insists on stepping on that rock over and over and over again?