Miles Briggs Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) has opened up for the first time about his father’s alcohol use, as he backs a campaign aimed at reducing the stigma that surrounds deaths due to alcohol and other drugs.
In a candid and moving letter to his father Jim as part of the See Beyond – See the Lives – Scotland campaign, MSP Briggs shares his experiences as the son of a parent who had alcohol use problems. (Miles lost his mother to breast cancer at an early age.) He also talks of the loss and pain he and his siblings feel due to his deceased father missing spending time with his grandchildren.
We all miss you but also know the pain watching you try to deal with and hide your [alcohol] problem from family and friends – from bottles hidden in the garden and around the house, the difficulty in holding down a job and for the family the worry and concerns we all felt over what would come next,” writes Miles, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party MSP for Lothian.
Miles Briggs, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party MSP for Lothian
He continues:
We probably don’t speak enough about you as a family – that’s partly because it can often return to what was a difficult few final years of your life. Dad, you know you weren’t perfect, but then which one of us is?”
Miles Briggs, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party MSP for Lothian
Also backing See Beyond – See the Lives – Scotland is Monica Lennon, Scottish Labour MSP for Central Scotland. A long-time campaigner against the stigma surrounding substance use, Monica lost her father to alcohol in 2015. MSP Briggs’ and MSP Lennon’s letters to their fathers are included with 14 others who share letters to their loved ones on the campaign’s website.
The two MSPs will front a Scottish Parliament reception in Holyrood where those who helped to create the campaign will talk about their experiences. They will stress the importance of showing kindness and offering support to everyone affected.
In her letter, MSP Lennon who as a teenager attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings with her father in Glasgow, writes:
A whole lot of life happens when you are waiting for rock bottom. Part of me always believed that you would fall so hard that recovery would follow. There were times it was too difficult to be around.”
Monica Lennon, Scottish Labour MSP for Central Scotland
‘Everyone knows someone’ is the message behind See Beyond – See the Lives – Scotland, launched last month by the University of Stirling, Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs, Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP), and The Salvation Army.
As well as hard-hitting stories and videos from family members and friends of people who have died, the website includes resources and advice for those harmed by substance use, whether for themselves or a family member or friend.
Since its launch, the campaign has gained national attention and support for its mission to shatter myths surrounding alcohol and other drug use and deaths, and to encourage the public to show compassion for those experiencing problems with substance use and the people left behind when a loved one dies.
Miles Briggs said of supporting the campaign:
The important message with See Beyond – See the Lives – Scotland is that there is still stigma attached to alcohol […] use, from how people talk about it to the judgements they bring to it.
Each of these letters is a rallying cry to make a change. Everyone knows someone, and we can all help steer each other towards more of an understanding of substance use and its effects on people’s lives.
It is a sad fact that everyone will know someone who has lost a loved one because of alcohol dependency. As a country we can make a change and save lives.”
Miles Briggs, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party MSP for Lothian
The initiative comes after two consecutive years of rising numbers of deaths from alcohol, across the UK, with Scotland showing the highest rates. In 2021, Scotland saw the highest number of alcohol-specific deaths since 2008.
Everybody knows someone affected by alcohol and other drugs
In 2021 there were 1330 drug-related deaths and 1245 alcohol-specific deaths in Scotland. Behind every tragic death from alcohol and other drugs are family and friends. These stories show the devastating impact the loss of a life to alcohol or other drugs has on the family and friends left behind.
