Becky23
Member
- Dec 5, 2023
- 8
- 8
Hi all - looking for advice. For context:
- We are both 33, married for 9 years, known eachother for 16yrs
- We have a 6 year old and a baby
- I work full time, he is in year 1 of a franchise business
- Outside of the alcohol issue, I'd say our relationship is otherwise healthy and we love each other and are committed to the marriage and our family.
Now to the problem:
- when my husband was 18 his father dies from a head injury sustained while very drunk after a party. He was only 38. (Family are still all heavy drinkers to this day.)
- age 22 - we start dating - we drink recreationally but it doesn't seem problematic
- age 27 - my drinking tapers off as I have our first child and I rarely drink afterwards. My husbands drinking accelerates. Friends and coworkers are heavy drinkers.
- age 30 - his drinking is getting really bad. Stressful job and bad friends are factors.. He gets more aggressive touching on violent (only when drunk). I'm talking screaming at me, throwing chairs, threatening to shoot himself if I leave.. when he's sober I plead with him to cut back, quit. All to no avail. Dumping out bottles at home enrages him.. he hides them or drinks before coming home. I was preparing an exit plan just in case. Eventually he rear-ended someone while drunk coming home from work. He was able to get out of it with a reckless driving charge. He stopped drinking altogether after this for 6 months. I thought we were in the clear.
Age 31 - after his bday he decided to just drink beer on weekends. Gets a different job and drops the bad friends so I think its okay for him to enjoy a few beers.
Age 32 - weekend beers become weekday beers. Mixed drinks on weekends. Only had conflicts a few times, nothing crazy. I figure I'll let him enjoy the holidays and he'll have the sense to use the new year as a clean slate. Wrong.
Age 33 - now I'm seeing bottles of whiskey and tequila in the garage and he's sipping out of sight and coming back in and I can tell he's moody and out of sorts. He was pushing our older daughter around this last weekend and made her cry for no reason. When I said something about it, he got mad at me and went to bed (passed out at 530pm). I'm so afraid we are just walking back to the hell we left behind 3 years ago.
What can I do to get through to him? I've prayed to God to speak to him, help him conquer this addiction but it seems to be just coming back no matter what I do or say or ask or beg. He won't do a group like AA, doesn't want to talk to his family about it, and when I push it just leads to fights. I'm terrified he's going to follow his fathers path and something tragic will happen.
Can anyone offer advice or experience getting through to someone with this type of problem?
- We are both 33, married for 9 years, known eachother for 16yrs
- We have a 6 year old and a baby
- I work full time, he is in year 1 of a franchise business
- Outside of the alcohol issue, I'd say our relationship is otherwise healthy and we love each other and are committed to the marriage and our family.
Now to the problem:
- when my husband was 18 his father dies from a head injury sustained while very drunk after a party. He was only 38. (Family are still all heavy drinkers to this day.)
- age 22 - we start dating - we drink recreationally but it doesn't seem problematic
- age 27 - my drinking tapers off as I have our first child and I rarely drink afterwards. My husbands drinking accelerates. Friends and coworkers are heavy drinkers.
- age 30 - his drinking is getting really bad. Stressful job and bad friends are factors.. He gets more aggressive touching on violent (only when drunk). I'm talking screaming at me, throwing chairs, threatening to shoot himself if I leave.. when he's sober I plead with him to cut back, quit. All to no avail. Dumping out bottles at home enrages him.. he hides them or drinks before coming home. I was preparing an exit plan just in case. Eventually he rear-ended someone while drunk coming home from work. He was able to get out of it with a reckless driving charge. He stopped drinking altogether after this for 6 months. I thought we were in the clear.
Age 31 - after his bday he decided to just drink beer on weekends. Gets a different job and drops the bad friends so I think its okay for him to enjoy a few beers.
Age 32 - weekend beers become weekday beers. Mixed drinks on weekends. Only had conflicts a few times, nothing crazy. I figure I'll let him enjoy the holidays and he'll have the sense to use the new year as a clean slate. Wrong.
Age 33 - now I'm seeing bottles of whiskey and tequila in the garage and he's sipping out of sight and coming back in and I can tell he's moody and out of sorts. He was pushing our older daughter around this last weekend and made her cry for no reason. When I said something about it, he got mad at me and went to bed (passed out at 530pm). I'm so afraid we are just walking back to the hell we left behind 3 years ago.
What can I do to get through to him? I've prayed to God to speak to him, help him conquer this addiction but it seems to be just coming back no matter what I do or say or ask or beg. He won't do a group like AA, doesn't want to talk to his family about it, and when I push it just leads to fights. I'm terrified he's going to follow his fathers path and something tragic will happen.
Can anyone offer advice or experience getting through to someone with this type of problem?