Originally Posted by
lizatola 
I know, isn't it crazy that we think that their ability to sit in the room with the family and just watch TV is being nice? For the past few months, he'd be hiding in his office watching Netflix on his computer with headphones and he'd come out once we all went to bed. That became the normal.
My husband did this very same thing for several years. He hid from our family. Hid and drank. Every once in a while he would do something nice, participate at a superficial level, and then go right back to the hiding and drinking. And amazingly he would complain he was left out of the family activities and goings-on. Then he'd go back to hiding and drinking.
Now that he is sober - he still hides. Hides and watches movies or plays video games. Hides from life. I have come to the conclusion this guy is a complete and total loner and it probably had nothing to do with alcohol. Funny how we start out thinking the alcohol is the problem, only to remove the alcohol and find there are many, many problems underneath that spew out sideways regardless.
Whats even more amazing when I look at it objectively is how CLASSIC these behaviors are to alcoholics. And all throughout the AA Big Book are passages on alcoholics thinking they are unique.