One of the tragedies of George Best’s life was that, if he had been made aware of the full range of alternative options, he could have drunk alcohol in a safe, normal and responsible manner.
That is the claim of Scottish couple and former alcoholics Lilian and Murdoch MacDonald, whose book on their recovery from alcoholism “Phoenix in a Bottle” was published earlier this year.
Lilian and Murdoch say that, in common with many alcoholics, George Best would have appeared to have been given the stark choice between on the one hand carrying on drinking alcoholically, and on the other embracing lifelong abstinence from alcohol.
But according to Lilian and Murdoch, there is a third choice.
They maintain that alcoholism is not an incurable disease as Alcoholics Anonymous would have us believe.
In fact it is a self-harming behaviour problem rooted in childhood. And if alcoholics are willing to identify and address their issues from the past, there is no reason why most of them should not be able to take a drink safely and responsibly again, if and when they so wish.
In 1994 as a result of their alcoholism, Lilian and Murdoch MacDonald were down and out, sleeping rough in the streets and parks of Cambridge, the English university town where, a quarter of a century before, Murdoch had studied for an honours degree.
Refusing to accept what they consider to be the outmoded myths and dogma of Alcoholics Anonymous, Lilian and Murdoch set about searching for the underlying causes of their self-harming behaviour problem, which they discovered lay in childhood.
Although Lilian and Murdoch's upbringing caused their problems, they themselves take full responsibility for their drinking, most importantly because taking responsibility for one's own actions is the starting point on the road to recovery.
As a result of their endeavours, the couple are today back home in Ayrshire, Scotland, leading normal lives again, with their problems of alcoholism and Lilian's associated eating disorder well and truly behind them.
Controversially, they are also now able to drink alcohol responsibly again, if and when they so wish.
