Interesting...I would be someone who would say that I would have definitely avoided the path of alcoholism if I had help. A bit of digging around revealed a family history full of alcoholics, depressives and suicides.
I had severe, undiagnosed depression -partially genetics and partially family circumstances for a long time. If I had diagnosis and treatment in my teens when every night I prayed to get a brain tumour for a 'get out of jail free' card then I think that the core problem would have been dealt with, rather than the secondary problem of alcoholism eventually appearing. Now that I am finally tackling the root cause, I have found that the desire to drink has gone away. I feel sometimes unbearable sadness for the 35 years that I have spent stuffing up my life but I am in a great place at last, and I am deeply thankful for every minute now.
Everyone's path to becoming an alcoholic is different and my path in no way means that someone else's is less valid.