John McMahon

One of the commonest questions anyone working in the addiction field is asked is “How can I stop my wife/husband/partner from drinking so much?” Unfortunately the short answer to that is – you can’t. They will stop when it suits them, whether that is because they hurt so much or because circumstances change. There is some good news, however, and that is if you can’t actually stop them drinking then there are things that you can do, or stop doing, that will make it more likely that they will take action and/or seek help for their drinking.

There is little doubt that regarding alcoholism as a disease, rather than as a moral weakness, has brought benefits to alcoholics/addicts. However there are many critics of the disease model, both on the grounds that there is little evidence to support it and that it may in fact be detrimental to recovery.