She certainly has the free-speech right to write whatever she wants to. It's just not the way most families treat each other - certainly my brother wouldn't write this about me, and vice versa - so it's uncomfortable to read. Either it's fictionalized, or it's a crappy way to treat your brother.

The story is a reported memoir that touches on a number of topics. The first, primarily, is about the treatment facility that takes care of people like her brother. Another is the negative and traumatic effects that addicts have around the people like them. In no way is this article about the brother but rather the effects of the brother to the world around him.

Often times, family members rely on arguments about the proper ways to behave to each other in order to silence or police objections to family behavior. In the case of addiction, it is complicated because addiction is itself complicated in ways that other forms of trauma are perhaps not. That said, is the voice of people who were traumatized by others worth less? Should it be kept quiet simply because the other person is a member of the family? Are we not allowed to acknowledge and discuss that addicts cause trauma for people around them that is deeply hurtful and is allowed to be heard as well?

It isn't; it just seems like a really shitty thing to do to someone you care about. If indeed she does, but the conditional love of women often works out this way.

"...the conditional love of women"

...okay

Imagine the opposite case; her brother is wildly successful, but still has a drinking problem. In this instance, she and her parents would probably shower him with love and affection. "We will get through this together!"

Pretending there isn't political economy in familial relationships is pretty naive. Especially when female relatives are concerned.