you've missed my point too. I think we're agreeing a bit but disagreeing a bit. Yes, alcoholics need help, proper help, the sort of help that isn't widely available, to dry out and get some sort of order back in their lives. And yes, alcoholism is an illness which renders sufferers vulnerable. However, no one forced the alcoholic to have their first drink. The alcoholic chose to drink, and then chose to drink more frequently, and greater amounts, and it got out of hand. This could have been avoided had the person made a decision to not drink or to limit their drinking before alcohol dependency became an issue. We all know perfectly well that alcohol can easily lead to problems like dependency, liver trouble and so on. If we make the conscious decision to use it we must be prepared to accept at least some responsibility for the consequences of that decision, rather than expecting everyone else to pick up the pieces so we can go smash it to bits again. Whereas dementia, alzheimers disease and the suchlike are forced upon their sufferers. There is no element of "they brought it on themselves". They are blameless victims of an illness that could strike any one of us without rhyme nor reason. That's the moral side, now the practical side. An alcoholic does have the chance to dry out. They can get better. They are not a lost cause. It will take hard work and willpower and dedication and, dare I say it, luck, but they can recover and get back a life worth living. A person with dementia doesn't have that chance. The best we can do for them is try and make the remainder of their lives comfortable. An alcoholic can dry out and step up in life again, but a person with dementia is stuck with their symptoms and needs constant, prolonged treatment - not with a view to making those symptoms go away or get better, or with a view to changing their behaviour patterns, which is how the treatment of an alcoholic might be approached, but simply with a view to taking their symptoms into account and trying to make their lives bearable.