Man, I'm so sorry you went through this with your brother.

It's better to lay off the booze completely or until one can gain control - if that's even possible for you. I find that it makes a bad situation worse.

For anyone going through this, my experience and general advice is as follows:

You need to feel the pain that you're going through instead of masking it with alcohol. Pain lets you know something's gone awry and that you need to address it asap.

I don't know if anyone has any literary references that alcohol enhances anxiety and depression - because I'd like to see it - but it was my experience.