I've been doing some soul searching.  Prior to being married to an a I never really thought about the problem, or how many people might be addicted, or how many people might be effected by someone else's addiction.  However, since I joined al-anon and began counting the numbers, it just seemed too vast. 

I thought about my friends and how many of them I suspect of having a problem. I thought about my boss and his teenage son who is an addict.  I kept wondering if it was something about me that drew me to alcoholics.  I kept looking for studies to tell me exactly how many alcoholics exist in this world because by gosh, I seem to find nothing but alcoholics.  And, I am tired of everyone telling me that I am overly sensitive to drinking.

So, I was very happy to read the article from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Addiction.  Maybe it is not right.  Maybe it is only partly right.  But it gives me some answers.

I thought you might enjoy reading it:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19562980/