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Comment by radicalbyte | Hacker News Reader

My father in law was the same until he was diagnosed with liver cancer three years ago. I never really knew him before then because he was always drunk.

By high functioning you mean you sit in the corner getting drunk every evening whilst ignoring your wife and kids? Fighting with them on a regular basis because you're sozzled?

Since then hasn't touched a drop and I've got a father in law. My children have got a grandpa.

He deeply regrets the time he missed with his kids, but luckily has been able to spend a lot of time with his grandchildren.

I understand where it comes from - kids are hard work and you need a coping mechanism to survive the first couple of years. Yours is alcohol, mine is sweet food (so I'm too fat), others smoke.... maybe we should try collecting stamps instead? :)

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I don't think he is like your father in law, not even close. He drinks way less than your father in law, and he is having this concerns because of people like you. You are judging him like he is drinking a bottle of vodka every day.

To the OP, don't worry. I'm from Spain, and hey man, you are totally fine. Drinking 5 nights a day? Half bottle of wine? And you call that drinking? Not really, come on vacation to Spain and you will see that's totally fine, no one is missing their duties for having 2 or 3 cups of wine when having dinner. Even my mum drinks more than that :P be positive.

I think your problem is not that you drink much, is more about you might feel like you can't quit drinking. Like others have said, I would suggest you purging yourself or quiting on drinking for a short period of time so you can feel you can control your drinking and not the other way around.

I would like to second the "think of the children" argument. My father drank a similar amount and also said "(which is not that much, certainly I got used to it, so it doesn't put me in the drunk mode neither)". But he was irritable when he drank, and I remember playing a game where I'd come up and talk to him, and then run away laughing as he chased after me and knocked into the furniture.

It is easy to think you're sober when you're drunk.

Half bottle of wine is unlikely to make him hit furniture.

"I'm drinking on average 5 evenings per week, between half and a full bottle of wine" would a full bottle of wine be enough? Doesn't it vary based on weight and alcohol tolerance?

I think that would depend on how much food you ate, how heavy you are and how long it took to finish bottle. I personally can drink full bottle over evening (say 4 hours) and be very far from that level of drunk. If I would have drunk it over 30 minutes on empty stomach, I would be quite a lot drunk.

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