Alcocure
10-04-2004, 02:24 PM
If you were to try putting the question "can alcoholics recover and
drink normally again?" to members of your family, friends and
neighbours, they would probably come up by way of response with the
tired old clichés from Alcoholics Anonymous like "once an alcoholic,
always an alcoholic" or "just one drink sets up the compulsion".
But if you try keying in the question "can alcoholics recover and
drink normally again" on one of the main Internet search engines like
Google, MSN, Yahoo, Lycos or AskJeeves, you will come up with a very
different answer.
The top result listed on all the major search engines will link you
through to one of the websites run by Murdoch and Lilian MacDonald,
two former alcoholics who have recovered from alcoholism so completely
that they are now able to take a drink quite normally and safely
again, if and when they so wish.
Murdoch (58) and Lilian (60), a married couple from Ayrshire in
Scotland, have set up their websites to tell their story to the world.
Because until now they believe that alcoholics have had a raw deal, as
the quasi-monopoly enjoyed by Alcoholics Anonymous has effectively
denied them any real choice about their own treatment.
"We are not against anybody going to AA if that's what they want,"
says Lilian. "But we say that lifelong sobriety is not recovery from
alcoholism, as AA prescribes. That is only treating the symptom rather
than the underlying cause, and as such is merely a damage-limitation
exercise."
"Alcoholism is not a disease, as AA and other 12-Step programmes
maintain," argues Murdoch. "Alcoholism, like other so-called
addictions, is a behaviour problem stemming from childhood. There is
no reason why anybody who is prepared to identify and address these
issues from the past cannot make a real and full recovery and drink
safely and normally again, if and when they so wish. We know, and we
do.
"Nobody is incapable of changing their behaviour. And that is one of
the fundamental differences between Alcoholics Anonymous and us. AA
disempowers people – the first of the Twelve Steps says: "We admitted
we were powerless over alcohol" – but we are fighting to give them
that power back."
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 (PhD), but reverted to their
old habits, started binge drinking, and were 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.
The couple 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 exchange thoughts, ideas
and experiences.
Lilian and Murdoch have completed the first draft of a book about
their experiences, and a London literary agent is currently looking
for a suitable publisher.
Lilian and Murdoch MacDonald's web links:
Main website:
http://www.alcoholicscandrinksafelyagain.com
Community websites
http://groups.msn.com/Alcoholicsdontneedtostayonthewagon
http://groups.msn.com/AlcoholicsCanDrinkSafelyAgain
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AlcoholicsCanDrinkSafelyAgain/
Other links
http://www.alcoholicscandrinksafelyagain.com/newpage15.html
http://www.pressbox.co.uk/Detailed/17770.html
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/6/prweb130243.htm
http://www.pressbox.co.uk/Detailed/15000.html
http://www.pr-scotland.com/releases/040409-02.htm
http://www.alcoholicscandrinksafelyagain.com/newpage4.html
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/7/prweb144035.htm
http://www.pr-scotland.com/releases/040726-01.htm
http://www.pressbox.co.uk/Detailed/16150.html
http://www.alcoholicscandrinksafelyagain.com/newpage0.html
drink normally again?" to members of your family, friends and
neighbours, they would probably come up by way of response with the
tired old clichés from Alcoholics Anonymous like "once an alcoholic,
always an alcoholic" or "just one drink sets up the compulsion".
But if you try keying in the question "can alcoholics recover and
drink normally again" on one of the main Internet search engines like
Google, MSN, Yahoo, Lycos or AskJeeves, you will come up with a very
different answer.
The top result listed on all the major search engines will link you
through to one of the websites run by Murdoch and Lilian MacDonald,
two former alcoholics who have recovered from alcoholism so completely
that they are now able to take a drink quite normally and safely
again, if and when they so wish.
Murdoch (58) and Lilian (60), a married couple from Ayrshire in
Scotland, have set up their websites to tell their story to the world.
Because until now they believe that alcoholics have had a raw deal, as
the quasi-monopoly enjoyed by Alcoholics Anonymous has effectively
denied them any real choice about their own treatment.
"We are not against anybody going to AA if that's what they want,"
says Lilian. "But we say that lifelong sobriety is not recovery from
alcoholism, as AA prescribes. That is only treating the symptom rather
than the underlying cause, and as such is merely a damage-limitation
exercise."
"Alcoholism is not a disease, as AA and other 12-Step programmes
maintain," argues Murdoch. "Alcoholism, like other so-called
addictions, is a behaviour problem stemming from childhood. There is
no reason why anybody who is prepared to identify and address these
issues from the past cannot make a real and full recovery and drink
safely and normally again, if and when they so wish. We know, and we
do.
"Nobody is incapable of changing their behaviour. And that is one of
the fundamental differences between Alcoholics Anonymous and us. AA
disempowers people – the first of the Twelve Steps says: "We admitted
we were powerless over alcohol" – but we are fighting to give them
that power back."
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 (PhD), but reverted to their
old habits, started binge drinking, and were 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.
The couple 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 exchange thoughts, ideas
and experiences.
Lilian and Murdoch have completed the first draft of a book about
their experiences, and a London literary agent is currently looking
for a suitable publisher.
Lilian and Murdoch MacDonald's web links:
Main website:
http://www.alcoholicscandrinksafelyagain.com
Community websites
http://groups.msn.com/Alcoholicsdontneedtostayonthewagon
http://groups.msn.com/AlcoholicsCanDrinkSafelyAgain
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AlcoholicsCanDrinkSafelyAgain/
Other links
http://www.alcoholicscandrinksafelyagain.com/newpage15.html
http://www.pressbox.co.uk/Detailed/17770.html
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/6/prweb130243.htm
http://www.pressbox.co.uk/Detailed/15000.html
http://www.pr-scotland.com/releases/040409-02.htm
http://www.alcoholicscandrinksafelyagain.com/newpage4.html
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/7/prweb144035.htm
http://www.pr-scotland.com/releases/040726-01.htm
http://www.pressbox.co.uk/Detailed/16150.html
http://www.alcoholicscandrinksafelyagain.com/newpage0.html