So what about alcohol? Isn’t that the problem?

 

Alcohol doesn’t implant character flaws.

It reduces inhibition.

It:

• Weakens impulse control
• Lowers empathy
• Blunts self-awareness
• Makes entitlement louder

In other words, it exposes more of what’s already there.

That’s why two people can drink the same amount and behave completely differently. Alcohol doesn’t standardise behaviour — personality does.

Why alcohol gets blamed (and why that’s convenient)

Blaming alcohol:

• Avoids accountability
• Preserves the image of the person
• Keeps hope alive that “if they stop drinking, they’ll change”

Sometimes they do improve.

But if the same patterns remain — blame, control, lack of empathy — then alcohol was never the root.

It was the amplifier.

A useful reality check

If someone:

• Drinks knowing how they behave
• Refuses to repair the harm
• Repeats the cycle

Then alcohol isn’t an accident — it’s part of the pattern.

The line worth keeping

Alcohol doesn’t change who you are. It reveals how much restraint you had.

That distinction matters — especially if you’ve spent years excusing behaviour that was never yours to carry.