Maintenance drinking is a description of a type of alcohol consumption (alcoholic), like being a binge drinker, I believe. My AH is a maintenance drinker, functional at work but like your guy 10 or more beers etc. each and every night for the past 20 yrs or so. I believe he fights off withdrawls by consuming in a certain way that also becomes progressively worse. The BAC level needs to be at a certain level, or withdralal symptoms start. Yeah...it IS alcoholic drinking. Just more descriptive of his pattern of using.
A good counselor would insist on sobreity BEFORE any work, IF they knew about alcoholism. That would/should be the first order of business.....but alot really do not know. In fact they are harmful, in some of their advice, as I have found out.
Yes,and the heroin.........who doesn't have periods whare they do that?!
I had to laugh, AH wasn't sure if anyone in his family was an A..I said well what about uncle,gpa, his dad... He asked why I would sat that about FIL, and I said he told me he was on methadone treatment twice for injecting himself with Demerol......and NONE of their family (excpet MIL, she is dead) saw that as addiction. He had "stress" and backaches and as a physician gave himself a shot (and his mother!) WHAT!!!??? Hello, he passed out in a parking lot to finally get help and didn't work or drive for over a year and that is normal???????? (THAT is stress for his family,at least) AH just didn't see it that way.
Good luck in all this.......