Kennedy

WASHINGTON — After a four-week course of addiction treatment, Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy returned to Congress Wednesday with what he called “excellent” prospects for long-term sobriety — in large part because he sought help before he landed in the kind of trouble that has brought him notoriety in the past.

The Rhode Island Democrat declined to say whether his return to treatment was prompted by an incident of drinking or drug abuse. He rebuffed a number of direct questions about why he sought treatment, such as whether he had been impaired by alcohol or drugs while on the job.

But Kennedy stated emphatically that his decision to seek treatment was not prompted by any accidents or encounters with the police, illegal activity or embarrassing incidents of the kind that have marred his public record of about 20 years. “None of that at all,” Kennedy declared.

In fact, Kennedy depicted himself as having avoided any such episode because his associates in recovery pointed out to him a danger that he — like many an addict — was unable to see for himself. As Kennedy put it, his “wraparound network” detected “the old relapse warning signs coming up, the stresses that are weighing on me” that could lead him back into the drinking and drug abuse.

Because he lives “a very fast-paced life and I have what is known as the disease of denial,” Kennedy said, he cannot always see when he is in danger of taking a drink or abusing drugs. He said his “early warning system” of medical professionals and fellow recovering alcoholics directed him to “take a break and do some soul searching.” He did so during a 28-day stay at Father Martin’s Ashley, a Maryland center well-known in recovery circles. Kennedy completed the round of treatment last week and spent the Fourth of July weekend on Cape Cod with his ailing father, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and other family members.

One danger to his sobriety, Kennedy acknowledged, was the way he was handling the difficulties surrounding his father’s struggle with malignant cancer.

During an interview between sessions at a hearing of one of his committees, the congressman borrowed heavily from the language of Alcoholics Anonymous and the 12-step addiction recovery movement. Kennedy, who will turn 42 next week, is a heavier, fuller-faced version of the young man first elected to Congress in 1994. He wore a tan, summer-weight suit, a light blue shirt and a red tie patterned with horseshoes and cloverleaves. He appeared to be at ease, despite his refusal to discuss the specifics of his condition, and he spoke readily about his addiction while sipping a caffeinated soft drink.

In May 2006, a late-night car crash on Capitol Hill attracted harsh publicity and prompted Kennedy to enter an addiction treatment facility and to acknowledge that he had been a binge drinker and prescription pain pill addict since his teen years. After the accident in 2006, Kennedy became a public face for recovery from addiction.

On June 12, Kennedy announced through his office that he had entered a treatment facility. He said Wednesday that he hopes his decision to seek treatment was another “sign to people that this is a chronic illness” like diabetes or asthma.

Kennedy specifically declined to say whether he has taken any alcohol or addictive drugs. His explanation: “I don’t mind saying I decline to answer that because, for me, I really keep it to ‘One day at a time.’ ” That was a reference to a key precept in the literature of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Kennedy was asked to consider the Rhode Island constituent who might wonder: “Is this man casting votes, is he receiving constituents’ or lobbying calls in a state of impairment? Or is he representing me in complete sobriety all the time? Can I expect that he’s going to be doing that for me?”

“The answer is I have the most public life that you could possibly imagine as a recovering addict and alcoholic,” Kennedy replied. He went on to describe how he cannot walk past a saloon in his Capitol Hill neighborhood without people wondering whether he’s been inside.

As for the abuse of prescription medicine, Kennedy said he is so-well known as an addict that “I would have to work awfully hard” to lay hands on the pain pills that were his drug of choice.

Kennedy said he has not been inside the local bar. Why not declare that he has not been taking drugs, he was asked.

“Because I’m going to, from here on out, want to have, you know, a degree — some modicum of privacy. I’ve been extremely open about the fact that I am being treated. I am an alcoholic and addict.”

Kennedy said his round of treatment renewed his belief that his service in Congress “is entirely consistent with my recovery.” Service to others helps an addict or alcoholic to avoid the pitfalls of self-centeredness and self-pity — an essential step to durable sobriety, Kennedy said. Kennedy said he intends to run for reelection in 2010.

Meanwhile, Kennedy said, “This is a chronic illness that needs lifelong attention. You can’t ever be cured of it. It needs to be monitored on a day-to-day basis for your whole life.”

Thanks to his recovery network, Kennedy said, “I was able to stay on top of it without it taking me down the road that it took me down before — where I ended up on the front pages of the newspapers and tabloids and TV stations.”

jmulligan@belo-dc.com