Well, just me talking. I think "high functioning" is a misnomer. I don't use it anymore.
Alcoholism is progressive. We bounce back quickly when we are young, less so as we age.
High functioning implies that we are smart enough, savvy enough to keep the different parts of our lives together while drinking to excess. Particularly with regard to work life.
That isn't it. The inevitability of the condition means that we can keep it together til we can't any more.
There is no high functioning, only barely functioning.
I was hungover every, single day on my job in my last years of drinking.
Every. Single. Day.
I didn't get written up. No one ever spoke to me about it. I did my job, barely, then went home to start drinking again.
Was I high functioning? No. I was lucky.
So..if we must think of people as high functioning, how about we think of it as a phase in the drinking continuum, as opposed to a type of drinker?
Again. My opinion only. Peace.