As an African child, your are likely to be shaped more by the dysfunctions of your parents than anything else. I couldn't read this book below properly because I became so sad. They have groups in America where people who have gone through it discuss it. I have had only one friend in my entire life discuss with me the sadness of what his father had done to their lives with alcohol. My advice was to extend him some grace.
We went through a lot when my father was an alcoholic and almost died a number of times because of accidents. I never knew why he was doing it and we blamed him for it until his best friend asked me if I thought he did it because he was happy? He did it because he was sad. It was in understanding his sadness that I came to respect him.
He stopped drinking when he discovered that he was diabetic at 60. The last nine years of his life without alcohol became one of repentance and devotion. I thank God he came back from the abyss after, but years of drinking caused so many health issues that eventually led to his early demise.
I don't drink anymore because it was a choice I made after a vow. I was taking my 8-month pregnant wife to the emergency room in America and I had finished a bottle of wine that evening. I realized how one small mistake that day because of alcohol could have led to a massive tragedy. I didn't wait till I had health issues.
10 years sober this month.