"How do you deal with an alcoholic who doesn't admit that he's an alcoholic, and how can you be supportive during a relapse when they won't admit that there is anything wrong."
You don't.
This is his disease. It's up to him to decide if and when he will seek treatment.
I had to keep asking myself "is this really how I want to spend the rest of my life?" The booze was winning. There was absolutely no peace in my home. Constant drama and chaos. The daily lies, the manipulation, the denial, everything we did, revolved around his drinking.
There were times we could not attend a function because he was already to drunk to go anywhere, but to bed. I grew tired of making excuses, all the joy was sucked out of our lives.
I did not understand what the disease of alcoholism truly was. Only after I educated myself regarding addiction, did I truly understand what I was up against.
I knew he had absolutely no intention of ending his relationship with alcohol. One of us had to go, so I chose me. I chose to get off the crazy train, i chose not to watch him lose control, I chose not to witness his beautiful mind turn to mush.
I will never allow addiction to control my life again. It's still hard to wrap my head around. How someone can let the booze get the best of them. A normal person would think my gosh, it's just beer, it's not worth ruining your life over, but to an addict it is LIFE . And until the addict decides to seek help, there isn't a damn thing you can do to help them.