Just recently, a colleague of my AH asked him if he was okay...that he seemed more pensive or introspective (or something like that, I forget exactly) lately. His sister and brother in law knew he had issues for a very long time and encouraged him to get help to deal with them in a healthy way...they knew about his past substance problems and I think didn't really want to see his alcohol problem. They live in another state & have for years, so it's not terribly often that we get to see each other any more, so it was easier to ignore.
But as the problems get worse and more "sick days" happen and as there is more erratic behavior, it gets harder and harder for people to not see, unless they just have their eyes totally shut. I can't believe I didn't see it (or hell, even SMELL IT) earlier either.