Charles Kennedy died because he had a long term illness..

The announcement  by his family that former Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy died of a major hemorrhage linked to alcoholism, has not topped Unionist  blaming it on the SNP wining his seat in the Geeral Election.

Yesterday the Daily Mail Online  had the following head line

Hounded' by SNP hate mob: How, in the weeks before his lonely death, Charles Kennedy endured a vile campaign of bullying and abuse by separatist fanatics that deeply wounded an already vulnerable man 

You can read if you want   the rest of this rubbish where the Mail doesn't obviously accuse SNP supporters of being responsible for Kennedy's death  but gives readers the option of thinking this.

They are a right  in that Kennedy was vulnerable man he has  a long and deep illness and that was alcoholism.

As someone who lost a much loved sister to this disease I have some idea of how Kennedy and those around him suffered.

You are left with guilt because you feel that you did not do enough to help with their illness  mixed with a feeling of anger about the waste of life.

But its time we started to look at addiction  as an illness just as we treat Cancer ,


No-one chooses to be an alcoholic . Plenty of people drink reasonably and even some to excess without  succumbing to the need to always revert to the Bottle

Blaming them for their illness and believing all they have to do is pull themselves for their illness  or Blaming yourself for not intervening more is not 

It is not even easy to get the parson involved to admit they have a drink problem and that leads to (as I know) frustration and anger with the victim of this disease

When my Sister died I was initially angry with her but then I realised it  I should think of it the same way  i would if  she had lost a bottle with Cancer .

Her death was not  something to ashamed of or hidden. Indeed it is important to speak out and tel people she died after a long battle with an illness and that was alcoholism. 

I hope if anything positive can come from the  tragic death of Charles Kennedy that there will be a greater understanding of this disease .

There will be may a biography of Charles Kemnedy in the near future I hope that is many achievements  and his undoubted Humanity will not be lost in a tabloid style probing and unsympathetic  analysis of his illness.