Alcohol and the problem drinker will develop a love-hate relationship. In the beginning no one grows up thinking "I want to be an alcoholic someday". Some people get snatched up right away by addiction because something in their brain sparks with that first drink or two and constant use in short order becomes the norm, while others it takes years to cross a line somewhere unknown that takes them from normal, social drinking, into the alcoholic zone.
This can be hard to picture, but once you cross this "line" drinking is no longer a matter of choice. The substance is running you and all of a sudden you are constantly, literally driven to take that next drink.
That makes for a full fledged relationship. Alcohol can be your friend, your refuge when you just can't face the world, it can help you sleep, it can give you courage that you wouldn't otherwise have, it can make you more confident, and at the same time it is a cruel taskmaster. Little by little it takes away pieces of your life. Friends start disappearing and not returning your calls, you go downhill financially, your family is in an uproar because of your self-destructive habit, and you lose your self-respect because you have started to compromise standards that used to mean everything to you. And you are confused - how did things ever get this far out of control?
