Addition is powerful. My cousing was on more-or-less continuous oxygen in his later years. Yet he would put his oxygen away while he lit up a cigarette for another smoke.
Your relative may also want to look into harm reduction oriented treatments as an alternative to abstinence. One issue with the disease model and the recovery culture is that people are taught that quitting drinking is the only option. Choosing to drink again, for whatever reason, is a relapse, a failure.
Peele discusses harm reduction, and there are several books on treatments that focus on reduced drinking outcomes rather than abstinence:
Over the Influence : The Harm Reduction Guide for Managing Drugs and Alcohol, Patt Denning, Jeannie Little, Adina Glickman
Alternatives to Abstinence: A New Look at Alcoholism and the Choices in Treatment, Heather Ogilvie, A. Thomas Horvath
Harm Reduction Psychotherapy: The New Treatment for Drug and Alcohol Problems, Andrew Tatarsky (Editor)
Harm Reduction: Pragmatic Strategies for Managing High-Risk Behaviors, G. Alan Marlatt (Editor)
There is also Moderation Management, which has an interesting reading list and support meetings in several states, although the organization was somewhat tarnished four years ago when one of the group’s founders was involved in a fatality accident and later plead guilty to vehicular homicide.
Antabuse just makes you really really sick. If you’re a real alcoholic, that doesn’t stop you. Besides, there are always excuses NOT to take the antabuse.
AA worked for me - kinda. I’m an atheïst. Just leave all the ‘higher power’ crap where it is. It’s good to learn the tricks and tips from other drunks.
For alcohol ‘cravings’ there’s Campral. Helps to get rid of the “I need a drink” feeling.
Finally, there’s antidepressiva. That did it for me.
btw: Someone once said: “You have to have seen the lowest, darkest pit, in order to quit drinking”. I guess he was right.