I can see it all from his POV, which is that he would have been counting the minutes until he could have his drink. That's the way it's going to stay until he finds the motivation to stop drinking altogether.
It's so frustrating that he can't see how good life would be for himself and his family if he took that step. And also much more relaxing, because an A's life is all about when they can have the next drink.
It's so hard when you have a little hope, and they let you down.