When My Friend Went Wonky
You don't really notice your friends sliding down into alcoholism. You notice them drinking heavier than at other times, or you might notice them drinking at odd hours that most people would not. Sometimes you might notice they're mixing their alcohol with meds and that might be disturbing.
By the time my friend was identified with having full-on alcoholism and alcohol dependency, he was well and truly too deep into it. The diagnosis as such came years and years too late. I blamed myself for not saying earlier that their drinking was a problem - but then it would have fallen on deaf ears. Once somebody is deep into that vortex, the last thing they listen to is their friend saying maybe they should lay off the turps. And so you tend to lose your friends to their addiction, even if you want to lend them a hand. I imagine people who lose their friends and family to other things like opioids would be much worse. Interventions don't help because they're addicted to opium and that's the toughest thing out there.
In the end you lose them and you go through the grieving stages to come to terms with the loss - even if they didn't exactly die. They might still be alive, but you nonetheless journey through the grieving stages. I can be disconcerting as you negotiate your anger and resentment as well as attempts to negotiate with the reality. It really is no fun at all.
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