Making Changes

I'm fairly certain my neighbors are alcoholics.  Twice a week I see their trash can out front loaded with empty beer bottles.  Whenever they're out on their porch, I hear the clang of beer bottles. 

Do people like this ever change?  And how did they end up down this road in the first place?  You read about Alcoholics Anonymous and how it helps people.  But a couple of years ago I dug a little deeper and found this not to be true.  Though the media promotes AA as successful, the numbers say otherwise.

One thing I do remember reading is the process of people who were successful in cleaning up.  It was often a gradual process, where the person would drink less and less, and still occassionally have a few beers.  But these people were successful in bringing their drinking down to a normal, social level. 

I think the idea that alcoholics should stop drinking cold-turkey is flawed.  It may work for some, but it probably fails for most.  It's very reasonable to make changes in small, measured steps.  To completely remove an ingrained habit is not only difficult, but the burden of trying to do it all in one fell swoop may make it virtually impossible.