Alcohol. Tuesday's report.
Alcohol abuse costs British business an estimated £2 billion a year in lost productivity. And that's just the financial cost.
Ray Furlong has been talking to Karen Fletcher - once a high-flying city executive, now rebuilding her life after alcohol dependency.
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Clear headed? No timorous beasties tae report Rabbie!
That is my Tuesday report I thought, Eddie. I am still trying to get over what happens to your FiveLive colleague Ms Fogarty when she goes to kip with makeup on. I think she woke up with the "plural" of spot. If not - too much info, Shelagh - way too much info. lol
Clear headed? So kind - and with just the thought if more people understood that thinking isn't reserved to a privilege few - those who think like that would treat evryone with a wee more consideration.
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I am sure that some people have an alcohol problem. However is it actually news? I would say not.
Worse, the report is encouraging a situation where the government will feel able to hike alcohol duty once again.
If the journalists involved in this personal crusade were to investigate anomolies such as why the price of coke (no duty, lower transport costs for the concentrate, lower production costs and lower capital investments) is MORE expensive than beer in just about every pub and club in the land, then they would be doing the country a much greater service than trying to turn us all into teetotallers.
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I was puzzled for a moment YDNT (2), but then I realised - you mean "cola".
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This item is the latest example of Auntie Beeb jumping onto a rolling, politically correct bandwagon. Whatever next? Should we put up the price of chocolate because some chocoholics are unable to contain their cravings and become obese? What business is it of ours?
The role and responsibility of Government is to ensure that manufacturers properly reasearch and fully publicise any adverse consequences of consumption of their goods. The role of the individual is to make informed choices and take responsibility for themselves. It is also our right to do so without interference from a Nanny state.
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It is a tragedy whenever one hears about people who have been trapped by alcohol. However I take great offence that it is not possible to operate in extremely pressurised environments without it.
The City is the best place to work in the world. If you are suffering you will be helped, at least that is my experience. Loss of a loved one, gambling relative etc. Always someone will be there for you.
I am very angry about the sense that The City is awash with drinkers and coke addicts. We were awful in the eighties but have now become some of the best resources for helping people before they fall into despair because of addiction.
Stop hating The City, we have a lot of lessons to teach.
J
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An interesting interview with Karen Fletcher who seems to be coming to terms with her addiction however I can't help but feel that she might not yet have accepted her part in the demise in which she found herself but it is probably early days in her recovery.
Alcoholism is a disease that is not discretionary in the victims that it claims and I can't help but believe that in some ways Alcholics (particularly the ones that find recovery) are blessed in a way that those who are unafflicted are not.
It occurs to me that Alcoholism is often a symptom of an inner cause that is not at peace with itself, sometimes a creative force such as genius (Wilde, Churchill, Lawrence, Scott Fitzgerald, Thomas, Parker etc etc ~ all afflicted with Alcohol addiction) and in a way the drink is the only way to self medicate and bring some oblivion from the overwhelming, constant obsessional thoughts that need to find some rest.
The inner demon in reality is probably searching for something spiritual but is unable to come to terms with being dependent on anything other than themselves, which is quite exhausting.
Of course then the energy is resought by taking another drink and hence the cycle goes round and round ........until sometimes to some of the poor souls that do suffer there may come a time whereby they surrender and admit that they are totally powerless over people, places and things and then......if their will is there, they find some peace and a road to recovery.
For those that do find that path they are special and I expect far better off than others that were never afflicted as they are in a position to see how else they would have got to where they are unless they had come the way that they did.
I believe Karen that you have great inner strength and given time it will gain in stature and what was within you that built your career and business has not died, it is alive and will resurrect itself but next time in the way that your inner spirit is comfortable with.
I wish you all the best in your recovery and I hope that you pull through your Bankruptcy and feel sure that if you do, in years to come you will look back and see that it was probably the best thing that could have ever happened to you.
Moriconium
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I have recently lost both parents to alcohol 6 months apart. After many years of strain and difficulty my mother died in a very slow horrible way and Bargra's comments make me very angry, there is no comparison to chocolate. Alcoholism affects very deeply not only the people themselves but all those around them as well.
I would always be very nervous of visiting my parents as I never knew what I was going to find. Sometimes mum would be so drunk that she just couldn?t do anything but would always deny what was going on. Both drove cars during all the years that they were alcoholic and dad did have an accident. I cannot even begin to explain all the pain and problems you have to face as a relative of an alcoholic.
I am 37 now with a young family and neither of my children ever went to stay with their grandparents it just wasn?t possible. Over the last couple of years my sister and I had been caring for my father who became doubly incontinent and almost completely immobile, whilst visiting my mother very painfully degenerating in a nursing home who had chronic liver failure. Grief is doubled as I am grieving for the parents I should have had as well as grieving the loss. I am angry at them as well.
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Why so angry, bargra?
Alcoholism is a real and widespread problem (and yes, I'm a recovering alcoholic). I have found the series to be one of the very few media treatments of the disease that is actually informative, balanced and helpful, rather than scaremongering, judgemental and crass.
Hardly political correctness gone mad.
IMHO, anyone who is bothered by or driven into a froth of indignation by this excellent series should have a good think about why they are so affected - could there be some denial at work?
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Bargra - you are involved whether you like it or not - through your taxes. Like so many other parts of the NHS, prevention is cheaper than cure, and you have a vested interest in that prevention. Call it interference if you like, but it may save you money.
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