My friend is a "happy" alcoholic? (person, gatherings, personality)

[SFboy3000]

I have a friend whose 24.
In a nutshell, he is super friendly, outgoing, funny, liked by mostly everyone, and the life of the party.
However, he drinks every single day. I've known hm about 6 months now, and as far as i know, hes been drunk every single day in those six months. My other friend, who introduced us, had informed me of this, the fact that hes drunk everyday, but i didn't really understand until i actually met him. I was honestly expecting a completely different person than who i met, and was pretty shocked to see he wasnt like "most" alcoholics. One day, the topic briefly cam,e up, about his drinkong habits, to which he replied "i drink every day, and went on to talk about how he isn't even going to try and battle it anymore and its just who he is. I'm just so confused by it because he doesnt "seem" unhappy, but you have to be if this is the life youre leading, right? Hes mentioned in the past that he has anxiety, and anxiety when alone but even when we hang before us drinking, he doesnt seem to have any of that..
anyone have any experience with this or maybe better understanding of it?
I just want to better understand my friend.

[JGC97]

Tell you friend what his future looks like.

By 40, his liver will be shot.
By 50, he'll be having blackouts and possibly seizures
and by 60, he'll be dead.

No one drinks (to the point of drunkenness) every day because they're happy.

[FrostyThe2nd]

I have a close friend like that. When I met him, he was 23 and well liked by everyone at social gatherings. He's a good looking guy, happy, and very personable. He's also caring and family oriented so it looks like he's an all around nice guy. We would get stupid drunk the first couple of years and it was all fun and games. He would also crack jokes about his liver and we would both laugh.

He's 26 now and while his liver is still ok, his personality changed. He's no longer the funny guy I used to know. He's even insulting to a certain degree. There's no longer a moment that I'm with him that he's not drunk. He's got fired from his jobs because of frequent lateness. There's no plan of sobering up because he doesn't think he has a problem. Even his other friends don't see the change in him yet. He still has a certain degree of charm left in him. I, on the other hand, do notice this change just because I know him quite well. It's sad to see him slowly spiral down during the 3 years I know him and there's no end in sight. His family is all the way in Texas so he's pretty much alone here.

I'm not saying your friend will follow the same path, but if he doesn't get help he might slowly start to decline as well.

[shooting4life]

Though not the healthiest of options, functioning alcoholism isn't the worst thing in the world. Personally, I would not worry about it.

[rca215]

What kind of daily drinking are we talking about here? 2-3? 8-9?

[dalparadise]

Originally Posted by rca215

What kind of daily drinking are we talking about here? 2-3? 8-9?

Probably more than just those two hours a day if the OP thinks he has a problem.

[SFboy3000]

Originally Posted by rca215

What kind of daily drinking are we talking about here? 2-3? 8-9?

Just any given time its available I guess. Lol. If there's alcohol, he's drinking it. Sucks since he's so charming and such an upbeat energy to be around, and even sadder that he's so young.

[CSD610]

Originally Posted by HereOnMars

Tell you friend what his future looks like.

By 40, his liver will be shot.
By 50, he'll be having blackouts and possibly seizures
and by 60, he'll be dead.

No one drinks (to the point of drunkenness) every day because they're happy.

Alcoholics can drink everyday whether they are happy or not.
One's mood has nothing to do with the fact that they are an alcoholic.

[bmw335xi]

Alcholics drink for many reasons, the most common is depression of some sort, but there can be many other reasons too. His odds of getting liver disease or a form of cancer is exponentially higher than the average person. You need to give your liver a rest, so it can heal and clean itself. It's fine to get drunk once a week when you are young, but every time you get wasted, you are increasing your chances. Drinking in moderation is key, a glass of wine per day actually has many health benefits, but 4 glasses a day could end up being deadly over time.

[dalparadise]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

Alcholics drink for many reasons, the most common is depression of some sort, but there can be many other reasons too. His odds of getting liver disease or a form of cancer is exponentially higher than the average person. You need to give your liver a rest, so it can heal and clean itself. It's fine to get drunk once a week when you are young, but every time you get wasted, you are increasing your chances. Drinking in moderation is key, a glass of wine per day actually has many health benefits, but 4 glasses a day could end up being deadly over time.

Of course, what you say is true, but even breathing air is "deadly over time".

No one gets out alive.