Yes, I would say he is a functioning alcoholic and she might be as well. Actually "high" functioning. They have good careers, they don't drink and drive...hiring taxis instead. They have several good friends. They are fairly close to their adult children and don't seem to have family arguments...no more than typical...and nothing extreme. They don't have money problems and are respected in their community. She is very proper in attire and speech. He is in attire, but when he has drank a lot, at times will say inappropriate things even in public. One (maybe the only one) of the maladaptive behaviors of note.

Sooo.... Can someone be a functioning alcoholic indefinitely? Estimated age 60-62. Has been drinking for perhaps 20-30 years with increasing frequency. Of note, he has a health problem (unrelated), but I looked it up and it said flat out that frequent alcohol use can exacerbate this condition. Either don't drink or lite drinking only. This is so not the case.

My dad had a couple beers 2 weeks before he died at almost 96. He was not a light drinker all his life...he functioned, never missed a day of work but drove us nuts. Not a good thing but he wouldn't change his ways. Stopped alcohol later in life as it burned going down, that's what he said. He never smoked. I went to enough alanon meetings in my lifetime.

Sure! But this person sounds like they have crossed that fine line and sliding down that hill to full-blown alcoholism.

They need to throttle back and enjoy "social drinking" if they are unwilling to stop completely.

I wish I could of done that, but I am not wired that way

I’m saddened and intrigued about my posts about my friends that I was worried about who were drinking more frequently over the years. I was particularly worried about the husband. He continued to drink. It continued to increase. And he passed away.