Alcoholics can recover and drink safely again

Added : ( Thu May 27 2004 )

Alcoholics can recover and drink safely again, if and when they so wish.

That is the message of hope offered on two Internet websites hosted by a Scots couple whose lives were devastated by alcoholism, but have now recovered so completely that they now not only lead normal lives again, but are also able to drink in a perfectly sociable manner once more.

That goes against the teaching of Alcoholics Anonymous, and of many alcoholism treatment centres throughout the world. But Lilian and Murdoch MacDonald of Ayr in Scotland believe that lifelong sobriety is not the solution to alcoholism, as this only treats the symptoms and not the causes of the problem, and is merely a damage limitation exercise.

Lilian and Murdoch argue that alcoholism, like other self-harming disorders including bulimia, anorexia and self-mutilation, often stems from problems experienced in childhood. And if these problems can be identified and properly addressed, then the problem behaviour can be cured.

Ten years ago the couple had hit rock bottom, sleeping rough for two weeks on the streets of Cambridge, where a quarter of a century previously as an undergraduate Murdoch had received an honours degree in English Literature. They had moved there from Ayr with the idea of Murdoch doing research for a doctorate, but had reverted to their old habits, started binge drinking, and been thrown out of their lodgings.

After a fortnight, and when they were just about at the end of their tether, two nurses on their way home after a Saturday night out took pity on Lilian and Murdoch, bought them a cup of tea and found them a place in a homeless hostel.

They spent the next twelve months there getting to the roots of their alcoholism. They tried AA one last time, before concluding that it was a quasi-religious cult whose ideas on alcoholism were inadequate and outdated.

Instead, by reading psychology, they decided that the causes of their alcoholic behaviour lay in problems experienced during childhood. And that once these problems were realised and addressed, there was no longer any need for escape through alcoholism, and they could even drink normally like other people again.

Ten years after selling newspapers from a stand in Market Square, Cambridge, so that he and Lilian could get back on their feet financially, Murdoch now writes his own regular column in the local weekly paper and also runs his own public relations consultancy.

And Lilian is so keen to pass on the benefits of their experience to others who still have problems with alcohol, that the couple are building a website www.alcoholicscandrinksafelyagain.com to spread their message of hope.

They also have a community group website at http://groups.msn.com/AlcoholicsCanDrinkSafelyAgain which includes a chat room and message board where members can swap thoughts, ideas and experiences.

Lilian said: “We are campaigning to get freedom of choice for alcoholics. We are not against people going to AA if that’s what they want. But we believe in individual treatment for individual people – not one-size fits all.”

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Note: A jpeg image of Lilian and Murdoch is available.

Issued by Fame Publicity Services. Telephone: 07833 667322.

Fame Publicity Services
10 Miller Road
AYR, Ayrshire
Scotland KA7 2AY

Telephone: 01292 281498
Mobile: 07833 667322.

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