Day 97! A gloriously sunny, sober Saturday. Children still slumbering and the husband out hunter gathering (buying coffee and newspapers) on the streets of Chelsea.
Spoiler alert: this post is somewhat controversial. Please do not feel obliged to agree with me, in fact all debate warmly encouraged!
It was announced in the press yesterday that Charles Kennedy (see my post: When the wine witch wins. Part 2) was, indeed, killed by his alcoholism. He had a 'massive haemorrhage'.
This news caused yet more discussion about alcoholism in the press, which you might think is a very good thing. Here's a typical quote from the Guardian:
“I also hope that politicians of all parties develop a better understanding of alcoholism, take it more seriously and devise policies to treat it as a disease on a par with the other major diseases."
And, yes, it would be good for "all parties develop a better understanding of alcoholism", and to "take it more seriously," BUT all the language used is designed to distance the commentator, and the vast proportion of the population, from the problem.
What they are, in effect, saying is "pity those poor souls that have this terrible disease they can do nothing about. Thank goodness the vase majority of us don't have it! Let's raise a glass to that!"
They think they know what the 'disease of alcoholism' looks like. It's the homeless wino in the gutter. It's the girl collapsed, in a pool of her own vomit, outside the nightclub with her knickers on show.
It's not them with their 'civilised' half bottle of wine with a colleague or client over lunch, gin and tonic when they get home, and another bottle shared with the wife at dinner. Oh no.
I don't believe that alcoholism is a disease or an illness. I'm with Jason Vale and Alan Carr, who believe that 'alcoholism' is a drug addiction like any other.
Some people are more prone to becoming addicted more quickly. The Horizon documentary on the BBC recently showed how some racial groups (e.g. Irish, American Indians) are, because of the slow speed with which they metabolise alcohol, more likely to develop alcoholism than others (e.g. Japanese, Chinese).
And 'nurture' plays a part as well as 'nature'. If you're raised to believe that drinking daily, copious, amounts of alcohol is the norm, you are more likely to do so yourself.
Certain professions encourage 'alcoholism' for the same reason: advertising and media, journalism and investment banking for example.
Plus, anyone dealing with any form of 'emotional damage' is far more likely to become hooked on the blurry oblivion provided by alcohol (and other drugs) in order to fill the 'hole in the soul'.
But, the truth is, that just like heroin, nicotine, cocaine and any other addictive drug, anyone who drinks enough alcohol over a long enough period of time will eventually become hooked.
Sooner or later your brain chemistry is permanently altered such that it becomes reliant on your drug of choice (in this case alcohol) for dopamine. Eventually your cucumber becomes a pickle (see Moderation. Is it possible? Part 2 for more on this one)
Going back to the quote from yesterday's papers, if it had read like this: “I also hope that politicians of all parties develop a better understanding of alcohol, take it more seriously and devise policies to treat it as an addictive drug on a par with the other addictive drugs" then that would be helpful. That would be a game changer.
Why? Because talking about it that way makes it clear that no-one is immune. It would encourage people to question their own drinking habits before they become too entrenched. More and more people would jump off the elevator before it gets to rock bottom.
As a society we insist on treating alcohol differently from other drugs because a huge proportion of the population are using it. The same used to be true of nicotine. At one point even doctors promoted smoking as, not just harmless, but healthy! How extraordinary that seems now.
I understand that talking about alcoholism as 'a disease' or 'an illness' ensures that people struggling with it are pitied rather than scorned, which is something. But even when we manage to 'recover' they feel sorry for us, trapped in a world without alcohol for ever.
Do we want pity? If alcoholism was seen for what it is - as a chronic addiction that anyone can be sucked into - then those of us who manage to break the chains would be envied and lauded. We wouldn't be hiding behind anonymity in church halls, or pseudonyms on the internet.
We have to stop blaming 'the disease' and start blaming the drug.
Only then can we give people proper help before they get to rock bottom, like Charles Kennedy. Only then can we properly counsel our children. Only then can we stop, not just the effects of alcoholism that people know about - like fights in city centres late at night and cirrhosis of the liver, but the effects they don't see: the gradual leeching of talent, ambition and energy of vast hidden swathes of the population.
Wake up, and smell the coffee (on a glorious hangover free, sunny day like today) people.
Feel free to disagree vehemently in the comments section below!
Love SM
Related post: Is Alcoholism a Disease? Part 2
Showing posts with label Charles Kennedy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Charles Kennedy. Show all posts
Saturday, 6 June 2015
Wednesday, 3 June 2015
When the Wine Witch Wins - Part 2
Day 94, and the UK press is filled with tributes to Charles Kennedy, the ex leader of the Liberal Democrat Party, who died 'suddenly and unexpectedly' on Monday at the age of 55.
The cause of Kennedy's death is not yet known, but it is widely assumed to be connected to his struggles with alcoholism and (its associated) depression, and possibly with the fact that Kennedy lost his seat, after nearly thirty years as an MP, in the general election last month.
Kennedy was, by all accounts, an extraordinarily talented politician, and a remarkable human being. He was loved and respected by members of all political parties, not just his own. He was brave and principled - the only party leader who spoke up against the war in Iraq, for example.
But he was bedevilled by the Wine Witch.
(Tallaxo tells me that, for men, it's a demon, not a witch. And he's male. And Kennedy's tipple was, I believe, whisky.)
Here is a link to an article written by Ming Campbell back in 2008 entitled 'How drink destroyed Charles Kennedy'. It describes, for example, how Charles was unable to speak at a meeting with Yasser Arafat in 2001 because he was so hungover.
On Budget Day in March 2004, Kennedy was expected at Prime Minster's Questions. When he didn't appear, Ming went to collect him and was blocked from entering his office by his PA because he had 'a stomach complaint.'
Eventually, in 2006 Charles stood down as leader of the party, citing a need to address his alcoholism as the cause, and his wife left him.
The article makes for uncomfortable reading, as I could imagine exactly what had been going through Kennedy's head at that time. He was a classic 'high functioning alcoholic' who kept everything seemingly under control, until the elevator, with a terrible inevitability, descended lower and lower, and he just couldn't control it anymore.
I can picture him at his desk thinking 'I'll just have one to steady my nerves before the Budget announcement.....perhaps a second will help take the edge off a bit....it's a long session, might need a third....' We've been there. We know the story.
In today's Guardian, Gaby Hinsliff writes: If Charles Kennedy’s death leads one or two to pause before unleashing mob scorn or fury, if it prompts an ounce more compassion for people whose lives might well be more complicated than they look – well, a fine liberal legacy that would be.
Hear, hear, Gaby.
Whether or not Kennedy's death was directly attributable to the whisky demon, it certainly had a massive negative impact on his life. What a waste of monumental talent. It reminds me of a quote that I reproduced in "Why ex-drinkers rock, Part 2" from Abraham Lincoln's Temperance Address:
"I believe, if we take habitual drunkards as a class, their heads and their hearts will bear an advantageous comparison with those of any other class. There seems ever to have been a proneness in the brilliant, and warm-blooded to fall into this vice. The demon of intemperance ever seems to have delighted in sucking the blood of genius and of generosity."
Farewell, Charles Kennedy. And, to all of you, don't let the wine witch (or the whisky demon) claim another victim.
Love SM x
Related Post: When the Wine Witch Wins
The cause of Kennedy's death is not yet known, but it is widely assumed to be connected to his struggles with alcoholism and (its associated) depression, and possibly with the fact that Kennedy lost his seat, after nearly thirty years as an MP, in the general election last month.
Kennedy was, by all accounts, an extraordinarily talented politician, and a remarkable human being. He was loved and respected by members of all political parties, not just his own. He was brave and principled - the only party leader who spoke up against the war in Iraq, for example.
But he was bedevilled by the Wine Witch.
(Tallaxo tells me that, for men, it's a demon, not a witch. And he's male. And Kennedy's tipple was, I believe, whisky.)
Here is a link to an article written by Ming Campbell back in 2008 entitled 'How drink destroyed Charles Kennedy'. It describes, for example, how Charles was unable to speak at a meeting with Yasser Arafat in 2001 because he was so hungover.
On Budget Day in March 2004, Kennedy was expected at Prime Minster's Questions. When he didn't appear, Ming went to collect him and was blocked from entering his office by his PA because he had 'a stomach complaint.'
Eventually, in 2006 Charles stood down as leader of the party, citing a need to address his alcoholism as the cause, and his wife left him.
The article makes for uncomfortable reading, as I could imagine exactly what had been going through Kennedy's head at that time. He was a classic 'high functioning alcoholic' who kept everything seemingly under control, until the elevator, with a terrible inevitability, descended lower and lower, and he just couldn't control it anymore.
I can picture him at his desk thinking 'I'll just have one to steady my nerves before the Budget announcement.....perhaps a second will help take the edge off a bit....it's a long session, might need a third....' We've been there. We know the story.
In today's Guardian, Gaby Hinsliff writes: If Charles Kennedy’s death leads one or two to pause before unleashing mob scorn or fury, if it prompts an ounce more compassion for people whose lives might well be more complicated than they look – well, a fine liberal legacy that would be.
Hear, hear, Gaby.
Whether or not Kennedy's death was directly attributable to the whisky demon, it certainly had a massive negative impact on his life. What a waste of monumental talent. It reminds me of a quote that I reproduced in "Why ex-drinkers rock, Part 2" from Abraham Lincoln's Temperance Address:
"I believe, if we take habitual drunkards as a class, their heads and their hearts will bear an advantageous comparison with those of any other class. There seems ever to have been a proneness in the brilliant, and warm-blooded to fall into this vice. The demon of intemperance ever seems to have delighted in sucking the blood of genius and of generosity."
Farewell, Charles Kennedy. And, to all of you, don't let the wine witch (or the whisky demon) claim another victim.
Love SM x
Related Post: When the Wine Witch Wins
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