I feel that part of the problem with alcoholism is that it tears down your inhibitions, so you care less about the consequences of many things, including taking care of yourself and maintaining a positive outlook on life. For myself, the more I drank, the less I cared about my personal well-being and my, I suppose, "reputation" amongst other people. It kind of gave me tunnel vision, like my brain was programmed in a way that cared only about alcohol and everything else was secondary. So really, I feel it is difficult to properly care about yourself if you're in the midst of alcohol addiction, because the disease doesn't lend itself to this ability at all. It's only after I gave up drinking that I was able to realistically move towards taking care of myself.