[hal ogen]

So...these so-called “mood disorders” do they appear so quickly and at his age? “Booze or “drug” disorder, methinks.

[justlurking]

Bipolar disorder can appear out of the blue as someone gets older. Actually, it may have already been there, and he was self-medicating -- either inadvertently or intentionally.

He may have successfully stopped excessive drinking, only to discover that it was covering up a bipolar disorder, and THAT then came out full-force.

I should note that I'm not a doctor, and am certainly not qualified to make a diagnosis like this. But, I watched a good friend go through exactly this scenario.

Someone else suggested that he might be in treatment for severe depression. I think that's also possible, and may have been the result of an intervention after something else triggered it.