Although the wives of heavy drinkers usually complain bitterly about their husbands' behavior, liquor can be the cement that holds the union together. Many a spouse of a souse, the University of Pittsburgh's Dr. William Browne told the A.P.A., has an unconscious need for an alcoholically incompetent mate, because only thus can she be dominant. Curing a husband of alcoholism. Dr. Browne said, may make the wife ill, even drive her to drink.
In every such case studied at two Pittsburgh clinics, the wife knew of her husband's drinking problem before marriage. ("Marriage to an alcoholic is no accident," echoed the University...