My 37 year old brother is chronic alcoholic, consuming around 3 bottles of wine per day. My siblings and my parents have been trying to help him control his alcoholism for some time now, finally getting him into rehab in February of this year.
Although he begged us to get him into rehab, he left thinking that he'd had a (I quote) 'hard reset' and that he could drink in moderation. He was told categorically by his family and his rehab team that this was, neither true nor possible, but he's always been one to try everything the hard way and now we're 9 months on and he's as bad, if not worse, than he was prior to rehab.
He has always insisted that rather than rehab, or home detox, or any other intervention, he should be able to 'taper off'. In other words, if he's drinking 100 mls per hour, then after a few days that would become 90, until eventually he's at zero and kicked the habit. For the benefit of anyone reading, he's tried this at least 20 times over the last 3 years and failed spectacularly on each and every occasion - but each new try is 'the one'.
We've been through the cycle enough times to know that he cannot manage this on his own. He's about to embark on the same thing again, but this time with the support of my parents, who will 'manage' him to some extent.
My view is that this approach will fail. Although it makes logical sense to gradually decrease, I don't think it works in practice. I'm struggling to find anywhere on the internet any evidence of anyone making this work, especially when you're at a starting point of 100mls per hour, and gagging for the next 100 mls before the hour is up. Has anyone had a similar experience? Has anyone managed to make this work, or discovered any resources which would help?