Originally Posted by
Choppersled 
Just curious about this one. I know of 2 alcoholics that eventually regained the ability to drink normally after a period of time. One is a relative the other is a friends father. Both were heavy users and my friends father actually came close to death. He can now drink a beverage or two and shut it off. I guess these must be exceptions to the rule but I though I would ask the opinions of people who would know more about this.
It may seem that way Choppersled but you don't really know what's going on under the surface. Having talked to a few big drinkers who have cut way back recently I did get them to admit that it was easier for them to not drink at all than to just have one drink. Doing stuff like not drinking til just before they go to bed, only drinking with meals (all the stuff I tried and failed at!). Maybe your friend's dad would actually like to be able to quit drinking but is too scared to live without it and too scared for health reasons to drink more than one or two. If that's the case then it isn't a nice place to be. And of course I'm speculating here but then you can't assume that he is happy about his drinking either. You can never actually know what's going on in someone's head. Most people around me assumed I was a normal drinker and from the outside it certainly looked like I had one or two and then stopped, but then they didn't see what I was drinking when I got home...The amount of planning and scheming that it can take to actually drink 'normally' doesn't seem worth the effort to me, or the risk.