Four Generations Overcoming Addiction

Christopher Kennedy Lawford Shares His Experience, Strength and Hope with Four Generations Overcoming Addiction

Being born into political and Hollywood royalty is not the guaranteed ticket to a fairy-tale life that one would assume.  Indeed, the meaningful and purpose-filled life that Christopher Kennedy Lawford now leads – loving father, accomplished author and passionate mental health and recovery advocate – seems a far cry from the man who was holed up in his Boston apartment in 1986, physically and spiritually ravaged from 17 years of addiction.

The first child of famed “Rat Pack” actor Peter Lawford and Patricia Kennedy, sister of John F. Kennedy, Christopher grew up with presidents, senators and movie stars. His childhood was spent jetting between the high life of Hollywood and the powerful world of politics on the east coast.  But November 22, 1963 was the day that everything changed, for Christopher and for the world. The assassination of President Kennedy, an enormous loss for the nation, was also the murder of Christopher’s beloved Uncle Jack.

“The research shows that any adolescent who suffers a trauma in their adolescence is much more susceptible to drug and alcohol abuse,” said Christopher in an interview with Hazelden’s Four Generations Overcoming Addiction. “My drug and alcohol abuse began when I was 13 years old after the assassination of my second uncle, Robert Kennedy.  That event, combined with the assassination of my first uncle Jack and the divorce of my parents, made me think of the world as an unsafe place.”

Christopher’s sense of insecurity, formed at a very early age, made him vulnerable to the peer pressures associated with growing up in the freewheeling 1970s with its rampant drug use. At age 14, he was offered acid by two friends, which eventually led to a heroin habit by age 20. After nine years of trying to get sober, in and out of treatment facilities, and going to numerous psychiatrists, Christopher’s epiphany, what he calls his “moment of grace,” came at age 30 on a bleak, dark winter day in 1986. Physically damaged and spiritually bankrupt, he looked out the window of his Boston apartment as a deep darkness washed over him.

“I got to a point where I became so sick and tired of being sick and tired. I had so much pain inside,” Christopher revealed. “But on that particular day, I realized that the only thing I could do was surrender.  That was the moment I felt grace come into my life.  I truly believe that moment was divine.”

Christopher spent the first years of his sobriety privately attending meetings and speaking in small groups, reluctant to step forward as a public advocate for addiction recovery. His first foray into the advocacy role came when an interview with an Indianapolis radio station turned personal and focused on his drug use and recovery. Uncomfortable with the line of questions from the interviewer, Christopher began to wonder if going public was a mistake. Right at that moment, a homeless man standing outside the studio slapped a note to Christopher on the radio studio’s exterior window that read: “can you help me get sober?” Through a series of “little miracles” Christopher was able to help the man find a local treatment center and connected him with a funding source for his treatment stay.

Now sober for more than 22 years, Christopher’s life mission is to erase the stigma of addiction in our society.  Christopher is the author of two best-selling books: Symptoms of Withdrawal: A Memoir of Snapshots and Redemption and Moments of Clarity and travels the country to share his recovery experience, strength and hope with others.