Originally Posted by
nicam 
My mother, while she was young, was a highly functional alcoholic. These types are able to maintain jobs and relationships for years and years, and responsibilities to a degree acceptable to the outside world I think. They're able to keep up appearances. At least for a while, it wears them down in their old age though, and everything will slowly deteriorate.
Alcoholism is a progressive disease, but not everyone progresses at the same speed. Old age has nothing to do with it. High functioning is a stage, not a type. And high functioning alcoholics are in their own way high maintenance and detrimental to the people they have relationships with, because they are just as emotionally unavailable as low functioning alcoholics.