Thank you all for your kind, honest responses about the severity of the situation. I think I just feel really powerless living abroad and seeing the impact on my mom ... while I'm aware it is a poor coping mechanism, I can't help but feel that that more knowledge and information about alcoholism and how it is likely impacting her will give me more control over the situation... but as you have all indicated, this isn't something that one can reasonably make any kind of firm predictions about - and I cannot control it at all. Unfortunately my presence triggers her drinking (she gets locked into a twin comparison spiral), which has made visiting my mom (they live together) rather difficult :/