I found that all of them evidenced at least
some blame, shame and guilt in their attempts to resolve the question of who or what was responsible
for the alcoholism. Beyond this general observation,
however, there was great variation in which particular
members mainly felt these emotions. While in
some families the alcoholic felt both shame and guilt,
in others the non-alcoholic spouse felt these emotions
strongly and the alcoholic did not. Furthermore, the
relative emphasis on these emotional responses often
depends on the drinking status of the alcoholic
parent. For example, there was a strong tendency for
the alcoholic to feel guilt while drinking,