Originally Posted by
Soberish 
You're right he probably was missing his drinking partner. We had a couple mutual friends there that were drinking so its not like he was drinking alone though.
I think he knows he has what society would consider a problem, but I dont really think HE considers it a problem. He thinks it's a solution, much like we all did at some point. He takes his breaks to prove to himself its not a problem, or at least its not a serious problem.
To clarify a bit, im regarding 5 minutes of my 6 hours there. We really had a good time, I just felt this 5 minutes was completely unnecessary.
Sounds like I've been like your cousin for a long time too - taking the breaks to convince there are no issues whilst causing problems each and every time I get started again - people close to me telling me I need to sort it but until I've finally realised this time there is a genuine problem with the drink - accepted I have drug issues previously - both linked tho for me and go hand in hand - without the drink I wouldn't be doing the drugs - I'd be elsewhere doing something productive instead of destructive.