Patrick Kennedy may tell his story of breaking the family code of silence in a published memoir and on 60 Minutes but he tells a universal tale, lived by millions of Americans, including me. As a teenager, my very sensitive and non-confrontational older sister courageously orchestrated a family meeting where she asked my father—revered by his children just as Senator Kennedy was—to deal with my mother’s drinking, isolation, and verbal abuse. He admonished his children to obey their mother and he did nothing to confront the real problem—my mother’s alcoholism. 

While that was over 50 years ago, the stigma that surrounds addiction is still strong and keeps families and society from dealing with it as the physical, emotional, and spiritual crisis that it is. In the 60 Minutes interview Kennedy says, “It's a conspiracy of silence, not only for the person who is suffering, but for everyone else who's forced to interact with that person. That's why they call this a family disease.”  

In both the book and the interview, he describes the traumatic impact of the “murders” of his uncles President Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy and also of the everyday trauma of a child living with addiction in the family.

Kennedy’s book, A Common Struggle, is both a memoir and a call to action on mental health and addiction policy, in particular the implementation of the parity law passed in 2008. In the appendix of the book, he includes a recommendation that Head Start programs should be required to be trauma-informed.

Kennedy participated in a Facing Addiction rally yesterday on the National Mall to celebrate the recovery of millions who are in recovery from addiction. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy announced at the rally that next year he will issue the first Surgeon General’s report on addiction, substance abuse and health.