I could have easily gone either way lionhearted...
I can't speak for others but I really didn't believe anything 'bad' would happen to me - even tho looking back it already had...I'm aghast now at what I convinced myself was ok then.
And those times when reality did break through, usually in the early hours of the morning, it would frighten me so much the only thing I knew was to drink more...
I nearly died. I'm glad I had something bad enough happen to me to break my denial and yet not bad enough to kill me.
D