阅读理解

　　Dear Cary,

　　I’m writing because I’ve understood you’ve struggled with alcoholism(酗酒)．I’ve been fighting mine ever since I went through 9-11．After that，I’ve been more or less useless professionally –I’m a lawyer–and have had to leave from my job because I was discovered passed-out drunk in front of my computer．I’ve taken some medicine and it has helped somewhat．I can manage about a month without drinking，but after that I end up having a crazy stage where nothing matters except drinking．After a week or so of heavy drinking，I start having nightmares of people jumping．After that，it’s a week of not being able to get out of bed．

　　I was supposed to travel to a conference but didn’t make it because I got so drunk at the airport that I fell down on my face and spent the rest of the day in the emergency room．I have been hiding from my family since then．Fortunately they won’t be expecting me to come back for a week or so．Otherwise, they would notice the bump(肿块)on my forehead and two black eyes．

　　I don’t really know what I’m asking you．Cary, I need a way out that doesn’t involve causing pain to my family．I’m taking medicine，but I still have these attacks every few months．If there’s alcohol in the house，I can’t stay away from it．It seems that this will never end．I’m afraid of what will happen if something bad happens，like a family member dying, or getting fired again．

　　Thanks for reading．

Yours T