It takes considerable courage to tell the truth, especially if you fear the future success of your political party could be at stake. Concealing the truth and taking the easy way out is never the answer.
But who really cared about what would happen to Charles Kennedy the man, as his drinking continued to spiral out of control? Why didn’t his colleagues intervene and force him to consider the deterioration of his health instead of colluding and covering it up?
Someone who has faced those demons and knows exactly what he went through is Veronica Callanan, one of my clients who runs a private drink and drugs clinic in Cambridge called The Development Centre. She is a recovered alcoholic, yet to meet her you would never imagine that she had hit rock bottom as a binge drinker. She is a stunning success story of how you can win the battle with booze, she knows it could happen to any of us.
Veronica has condemned Kennedy’s friends for not rallying round to confront him about his drinking. This is her response to the sorry saga:
“Alcoholism isn’t, and has never has been, a solitary ‘illness’, it is a condition that can worsen or be improved by the response of the people around them, particularly their family, most certainly their closest peers. Their collusion with alcoholism can actually worsen the condition
“One of the greatest tragedies of alcoholism is the number of people who surround an alcoholic and enable them to ignore the seriousness of the illness. Certainly, some alcoholics could receive help a lot earlier if they are allowed to feel the consequences of their actions which people around them have prevented them feeling because they are trying to support or help them. This is a gross miss-judgment on their part.
“Alcoholism is defined by the condition of denial, it is an illness that tells the alcoholic they don’t have an illness. Denial of this nature is often expressed in blaming outside factors for internal dissatisfaction or dysfunction, the job, the relationship, living arrangements, stress, perceived unfair treatment by others, lack of money etc the list goes on and on that alcoholics can blame their feeling of dissatisfaction on.
“The arguments of “I deserve a drink because this is happening to me� or “ You’d drink too if you had the day I had�, are just excuses that the alcoholic uses to continue drinking. In fact alcohol isn’t actually the problem, it is a symptom of the problem, alcoholism is actually the way someone thinks and feels, this being so unpleasant, that alcohol is used as a temporary release from that state, and so the problem continues. Alcohol is defined by feelings of fear and dissatisfaction that are almost impossible to articulate so are therefore buried.
“It’s unfortunate that in Charles Kennedy’s position, no one had the courage or 
integrity to confront him on what was clearly unacceptable behavior. It’s like the Emperor’s New Clothes, no one dared comment on what was obvious to everyone. He is another sad example of a man with promise and talent who was prevented from fulfilling his potential because of alcohol.
“You don’t need to drink everyday, get arrested, divorced, bankrupt to be an alcoholic, there are many high functioning alcoholics who indeed use their work to hide from themselves in order to not confront the reality of their situation. Alcoholism doesn’t go away, it doesn’t get better over night. It needs treatment, and the best form of treatment for an alcoholic is abstinence and a programme.
“The good news is that you can recover from alcoholism and recovered alcoholics are generally the most dynamic, brilliant people around. Once they are free from their alcoholic bondage , they are able to reach heights previously only dreamed of. When one’s internal world is in order, the external world will reflect this. If Charles Kennedy is able to successfully address his condition, he could potentially be one of the greatest leaders his party or indeed this country has ever known. If a man can address this problem and come out the other side with wisdom, humility, experience and self awareness then he has the potential to be a great man indeed�.
If you want to check out whether you have a drinking problem, then try Veronica’s test.
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