American Notes BOSTON

Kitty Dukakis returned home to Boston last week full of plans for speaking engagements and fund-raising campaigns for Armenia, AIDS and the homeless. But her most important project involves a continuing struggle. "I now know that I am an alcoholic," she said as her husband stood beside her.

After a "terribly painful and lonely period" following Michael Dukakis' loss in last November's presidential election, Kitty, 52, checked into a Rhode Island clinic in early February for treatment of a drinking problem. She refused to blame the defeat for her troubles. "Any crisis could have led to the drinking," she said. "The campaign was a very positive experience for me. The only thing that happened wrong was that we lost." She can only hope her next campaign turns out better.