4: Alec Grant

An interesting area of study is in the association between accomplishment and addiction, specifically looking at people who have a history of drug and alcohol addiction and are or once were considered as professionally successful. Previous research in this area has suggested that a degree of substance use, most commonly alcohol, is both expected and condoned among professionals within certain occupational fields; for example, as a general population, professionals in the military, health care, government, law and academia have been reported to have higher levels of alcohol consumption, than in other work-related groups (Anonymous Academic, 2016; McKetta, Prins, Bates, Platt, & Keyes, 2021). Furthermore, in these settings problem substance use is discussed in terms of clients, patients, students, service users and subordinates, not in those vindicated by their professional capacity or standing (Kiepek & Beagan, 2018). A study using data spanning 12 years substantiated this by finding a clear link with people in high prestige, authority or expertise occupations and binge drinking (McKetta et al., 2021). A reasonable deduction could be that situationally, occupation and professional standing encourage protracted alcohol consumption. As a phenomenon this problem is compounded by the success and plaudits received by those affected, for example, receipt of a large bonus, news of an academic publication, a successful court case or electoral success. Indeed, for those whose alcohol consumption leads to addiction, professional success is likely to prolong denial, as well as provide justification for continued drinking. This account tells of an academically efficacious individual who accomplished myriad success whilst courting a lengthy and increasingly debilitating relationship with alcohol. Alec was born in the United Kingdom in 1952, in his own words, Alec's story.