My xah didn't start drinking until he was in his early 20's. I'm not sure when he crossed the line into alcoholism. Probably pretty quickly.
If I may indulge in some armchair psychology he is very co-dependent as well. He grew up with an alcoholic father (that died from his disease when xah was 17yo) and a very co-dependent mother. With some help here at SR I had a couple a-ha moments about his codependency. How that is expressed in him was about exactly opposite of how it was/is expressed in me but I can see it plain as day - especially when I read Co-Dependent no more.
Possibly that is why we seemed like such a good fit for each other when we first met. :shrug:
Lillamy your question is a good one. I think that many of my co-dependent behaviors or approaches to relationships was learned as a small child. It isn't so much that my emotional growth was frozen, it is just that some specific areas did not develop in a healthy way.