deeper and longer personal pattern. Success may have provided an environment in which drinking was readily available, but McCarthy does not describe celebrity as the single cause. In later interviews, he looked back on the experience as something he eventually became unable to manage. By the early 1990s, he could no longer convincingly deny that he needed help.
He has also explained what alcohol initially seemed to provide psychologically. McCarthy was naturally anxious and uncomfortable with attention, while drinking temporarily made him feel more confident. He described alcohol as giving
