My AH of 16 years was very responsible. I have known him since I was 15... so I have known him almost 30 years. He had a great job, where we could go on nice vacations, buy things we wanted, didn't have to worry about money. He drank a lot during those days too. He always worked. We shared duties around the home, cooking, cleaning, laundry.. perfect happy family. Then the drinking just got worse and worse and his temprament changed and a horrible car accident, then pain killers.
I also know many people, just in the recent few years who have died as a direct result of alcohol. One was just 36 or 37, committed suicide - hung himself. One was about 40, liver stopped working and he was a successful stock broker, one had just turned 50 - liver shut down. About 10 years ago, my best friends husband was driving drunk about 50-60 miles per hour on a 20 mile per hour road and ran into a utility pole. Was it suicide? A 21 year old, the son of my old youth pastor, died in an ATV accident a couple weeks ago - drinking and no helmet. These people are not just friends of friends of friends, these are people that our family knows. My H was taken to the hospital this morning via ambulance because he was taking too much of his methadone, so he ran out, was going through withdrawals and decided to drink his way through the withdrawals. His home health care nurse (he is on IV antibiotics for an infection) found him and was afraid he was going to have a seizure, so called an ambulance.
I have no idea how I am going to pay all my bills now. I never used to have to worry about that. Isn't it supposed to get better as you get older? I guess it is poor poor pitiful me party night.
I don't mean to be blunt. But alcohol kills people. We all married kind, nice, wonderful spouses, but you have every reason to be concerned about his drinking. But, there is nothing you can do about it either. You either have to learn to live with it, or not.
It is indeed progressive and does get worse.