What are red flags in a friendship most people brush away?

Most posts here talk about red flags of a bad friend, but I think the red flags that we dismiss are the ones where our friends need help, and we refuse to say anything.

I have a friend that drinks way too much. Over the last 10 years we've gone from being shit faced all the time, to one of us being shit faced all the time.

I always chalked it up to be he needed to unwind, and when I came home (I moved away years ago) we'd throw down like we were still 20.

He needs help, and I haven't been there to actually help him get it.

Even after some really aggreagious shit recently, I don't know how to approach the situation, and it is so much easier to just brush it under the rug as a one-offer.

/r/AskReddit Thread