I'm still an alcoholic, says Gibson

I'm still an alcoholic, says Gibson :

"'I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested, and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable. I am deeply ashamed of everything I said and I apologise to anyone who I have offended.'"

Alcoholism is a disease and it is not cured. It can be put into remission. Mel Gibson has done the right thing to talk about it openly and to be clear about where he has stuffed up. It'll make other drunks confront their problems. Drunks put themselves and everyone else in very painful and unpleasant circumstances. It is relentless and they are like walking time bombs because you never know when they will go off and what they will do. Like anyone else in remission the return of the disease is aggressive. It's another form of addiction and again, an addict is an addict is an addict and cannot necessarily be held responsible for their behaviour. 10% of us are addicts. Addictive behaviour is extreme and destructive. We hammer smokers, what about the drinkers? Not all people can be reasonable drinkers and when they are not they create the sort of chaos and Mel Gibson has done just that. The saddest part is you get such lovely, talented people who become so destructive and other people destructive. Unreliable, obnoxious, dangerous, intrusive, abusive. We need to look at this. An addict has to remain free of the substance to which they are addicted and they have to be careful they do not substitute one addiction for another...unless, of course, it's a productive one like being addicted to sailing or golf.