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Elizabeth Burton-Phillips shares a video about drugs, addiction, and hope

ABOUT THE VIDEO
Nobody ever thinks they'll become a drug addict - its something that happens to other people. In this extremely candid interview, Elizabeth Burton-Phillips, author of Mum, Can You Lend Me Twenty Quid?, and her husband, Tony, speak openly about the gradual descent of their identical twin sons into the nightmare of heroin addiction.

This film features clips from 'Getting Hooked', a home video in which one of the twins describes how easily he and his brother slipped into addiction.

This film is just one part of the latest edition of Big Picture, featuring addiction. Published twice a year, Big Picture is a free post-16 resource for teachers that explores cutting edge science.

 



 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elizabeth Burton-Philips has been a teacher for over 30 years, having gained her original qualification from the Institute of Education, University of Liverpool. As a mature student, she achieved distinction in her Master’s Degree from Oxford University. She is currently about to retire from teaching after a 38 year career. For the last sixteen years she has been Head of Department at one of the most successful girls’ schools in the country. She and her husband Tony live in Berkshire.

As both mother and grandmother Elizabeth can’t resist showing off pictures of her beautiful little grandson James, sitting with his adoring father Simon. But for Elizabeth, the joy runs even more deeply than most, contrasting as it does with the devastation her family experienced six years ago. At the age of 13, her son Simon and his twin brother Nick began experimenting by smoking cigarettes and cannabis which led them to try increasingly dangerous drugs over a period of 14 years, culminating in injecting heroin. Full of naivety and thinking doing drugs was all a bit of a laugh, the drug dealers saw their chance to groom Nick and Simon onto addictive hard drugs, by offering them their first heroin ‘spliff’ for free. This was a step towards learning to die. One February day in 2004, after a huge, drug-fuelled argument, Simon went to make peace with his brother and found that Nick had hanged himself in despair because of his addiction.
 
ABOUT THE BOOK
Elizabeth published the story of how addiction affected her family in Mum Can You Lend Me Twenty Quid? What drugs did to my family (Piatkus £8.99). The response since May 2007 has been staggering, with almost 13.000 telephone calls and emails from families saying “your story is our story, it mirrors everything in our own lives and we too are waiting in dread for that knock on the door that you had one night from the police.  To date, she has received letters from everyone from school children to recovering addicts and people trying to deal with addiction in the home.  325 families that have contacted Elizabeth have had that dreadful knock on the door. Elizabeth cares passionately about the family and friends of an addict, the forgotten victims of addiction and particularly those who are bereaved by addiction. Her son Nick’s tragic death gave Simon his life back and her family the opportunity to speak publicly about something they had hidden for such a long time. The Nicholas Mills Foundation trades as her registered charity DrugFAM  www.drugfam.co.uk   It is there to support families friend and carers struggling to cope with the nightmare of addiction.

Following the publication of her book Elizabeth has been invited to speak at many venues all over the country and overseas on the drugs issue and how it impacts on the family. She is now a member of the Federation of Drug and Alcohol Professionals, a Family Spokesperson for FRANK, the National Drugs Helpline and Information Service and her charity’s ambassador for those bereaved by addiction. She hopes that her book, which has been translated into several languages, will continue to serve as a warning to all parents, to all children and their families. Blanket coverage of the book has launched the author and her charity into the forefront of anti-drugs campaigning in the UK. Her most recent invitation is to attend the  European Commission, DG Justice, Freedom and Security  "European Action on Drugs", aiming to engage civil society towards the common objective of raising awareness and concrete commitments as regards drugs and the risks related to drug abuse, thus contributing to reduce the number of people, particularly youngsters, becoming addicted. This event is in June 2010.

Elizabeth Burton-Phillips is Founder and Figurehead of the Nicholas Mills Foundation known as DrugFAM www.drugfam.co.uk Ambassador for those bereaved by addiction, May 2010

Posted 20/05/2010 13:59:25 by Emily Rowland with 4 comments.

Comments

  • anne/australia

    Dear Elizabeth and Tony,

    Thank you for such a lovely video, yet more importantly for the book. Presently we have discovered my 19 1/2 year old is 'treading that awful path'. Discovering the extent is very hard. Even though I am in touch with him everyday he sleeps elsewhere. The situation seems to be at the begginning. All I wish to do is sit down and let hem see your book. I doubt he will read it. As my child has such an out going personality, I'm sure he'd find a tribe on Mt Everest if I put him there I am so frustrated as we don't commicate. It would be so easy to go on yet we are all given one life, congradulations to Nick, his family and the one on the way.

    Anne

    18/5/2011 10:34

  • Pauline

    Dear Elizabeth and Tony,

    You are so brave and I have nothing but admiration for you and the work that you have done since the loss of your beautiful son Nick. I am so happy for you that Simon has managed to rebuild his life, since Nick died and now has his own family. I read your book and your honesty was just incredible.

    My daughter Gemma is 28, she was diagnosed diabetic at age 12, she struggled to cope with this and started to use cannabis, her uncle abused her at the age of 15,my beautiful daughter. She was introduced to heroin at age 17 and has been addicted for 10 years, she was clean for just over a year after going into rehab for 8 months, but found life with no drugs to fall back on too painful, so she relapsed, she then started to take crack cocaine and was addicted to that for a year, until admitted to hospital 2 months ago. She is now trying to manage on prescribed drugs, still takes cannabis and is waiting to go back into hospital, she is desperate to be free of her addiction. The pain I go through is indescribable. It has tore our family apart, though my son is supportive and also my husband (her stepdad). What I find most difficult is the isolation, there is one family support group in Edinburgh, I have just found out about, I will go to it next week,it shuts for 3 months though over the summer though, which I thought was strange. However at least it is something.

    Thank you for writing your book, my daughter is keen to read it too, so I hope it helps her.

    Very Best wishes to you and your family.

    Pauline.

    5/6/2011 15:55

  • Pauline

    Dear Elizabeth and Tony, I have just seen your video and it is so moving, I have just read your book Elizabeth and what was so amazing about it, was your honesty. I was so saddened to hear about the loss of your beautiful son Nick, and so glad to hear about Simon's recovery, which is fantastic and so pleased about how happy he is with his family and the support he gives to you. It was so good to hear the story in the book from his perspective too.

    My daughter is addicted to heroin and has been for 10 years, she has been on methadone for a number of years, and also addicted to crack cocaine for 1 year, she is also prescribed methadone, which she is gradually coming down from. MY beautiful daughter was diagnosed diabetic at age 12 and could not cope, she started using cannabis, at age 15 she was abused by an uncle, she was so traumatised, she attended a psychiatric hospital and was given all kinds of medication, as she was depressed and hallucinating. At age 17 she became addicted to heroin. The start of our nightmare. It has been so hard for our family. My daughter desperately wants to recover, since she was in hospital 6 weeks ago, she has been doing a bit better but it is her mind that tortures her,and for me just feeling so alone , as the public just do not understand. My daughter does have good days and she is keen to read this book, so hopefully it will help her.

    Thank you Elizabeth and Best wishes to all your family.

    Pauline

    5/6/2011 18:53

  • sharon

    Hello Elizabeth not sure if you remember me i contacted you about 3 yrs ago regading my daughter being addicted to crack.Things have progressed since then onto heroin , i found metadone in he bag last year. It's a long story but she has been to prison last year but has been living with me and been on subutex and been doing really well. Then the boyfriend came out of prison and she is back on heroin.She is 29 this year with an 11 year old son who i have with me and i just feel that i hate her at the moment and am refusing to help her, i cannot imagine the pain you have been through because i know how i feel, but deep down i know i am going to lose her and feel i have prepared for this, but deep down my heart is breaking.Where i live there are no support groups.

    22/6/2011 22:41

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