Patrick Kennedy’s Memoir On Addiction Alleges Father Ted Kennedy’s Alcoholism, Causes Family Friction

Patrick Kennedy will not back down from claims he made in his new book about the addiction struggles of his father – the late Sen. Ted Kennedy – despite backlash from his family.

Patrick Kennedy Stands By Book

Patrick Kennedy, 48, battled with his own additions to alcohol and drugs in addition to bipolar disorder while serving as a Rhode Island congressman. In his book, A Common Struggle: A Personal Journey Through the Past and Future of Mental Illness and Addiction, not only does he detail his own struggles, but that of members of his family.

Among Kennedy family members who are displeased with the claims Patrick made in his book is his elder brother Ted Kennedy Jr., who called his book an “inaccurate and unfair portrayal” of the family.

“My brother’s recollections of family events and particularly our parents are quite different from my own,” Ted Kennedy Jr., a Connecticut state senator, said in a statement. “Our father was a man with an extraordinary capacity for empathy and intimacy who cherished many lifelong friendships; my dad and I shared a deep, emotional bond.”

Ted Kennedy Jr., despite disagreeing with how his brother weighed in on their family, expressed admiration for his ability to share about the challenges he himself had faced, while also pointing out the need for ongoing conversations about mental illness and death.

In response to the Connecticut senator’s statement, Patrick Kennedy claimed that his book contains no lies. “I’m writing very truthfully,” Kennedy told the Boston Globe.

 

Within A Common Struggle: A Personal Journey Through the Past and Future of Mental Illness and Addiction, Patrick claims that his father, The Lion of the Senate, was a longtime alcoholic. He illustrates the claim with anecdotes about how he refused to attend his 60th birthday party unless he quit drinking, and how the entire family once attempted to wage an intervention.

Patrick Kennedy suggests that his mother, Joan Kennedy, had addiction issues as well.