Many alcohol are self medicating their mental illness. Mr. M and I raised two special needs children. We each have relatives in our past who had mental illness back when there really was nothing to be done except heavy drugs like thorazene and shock treatment. Now the meds are pretty amazing if the patient is okay with taking them. There are new forms of therapy also which can give people like the Msgr’s sister tools for coping. But again, not much can be done to force an adult into it and some therapy is crap and some psychiatrists are just pill pushers.
I found out in my 30’s we had a great-aunt that spent most all her life in a mental ward. All we’ve been told is her mother died when she was 14-15 years old and she developed “Melancholia”. I often wonder if she was simply grieving/depressed and family, physicians didn’t understand how to deal with people like her. Breaks my heart that she lived such a sad life.