Recovery Demystified

In order to rewire our brains, we must feed them new information. Or bathe them in a soup of new information. Today, Early recommends a few books and podcasts to support addiction recovery. They also start the conversation about accountability for harm caused during addiction.

Books:

How to Eat to Change How You Drink by Brooke Scheller, DCN, CNS

Dry by Augusten Burroughs

The Places That Scare You by Pema Chodron

Podcasts:

How We H...

Trigger warning: Mentions of domestic violence, grooming

Today we hear from Emily. Emily's childhood involved having one parent in severe addiction, and the other parent covering for them. She discusses the complexity of loving someone who is abusing you, and using sex as a young person to seek the approval she wasn't getting at home. She began drinking and smoking pot, and soon began using both quite heavily. Emily reflects on how...

In today's episode, Early discusses the two pivotal mental shifts they made in their life that turned recovery from feeling impossible to being possible. Once they made these mental shifts, they were no longer "trying to quit drinking." Instead, they finally just quit.

Want to donate to our nonprofit? Donations in any amount can be sent to our Venmo or PayPal @recoverydemystified

Want to be interviewed on this podcast? Send an emai...

Trigger warning: brief mention of suicide.

Today we hear from Bill. Bill first saw the destructive powers of alcohol when his dad started drinking a lot after his parents got divorced. His own experimentation with binge drinking led to blackouts early on. In high school, he recognized that his drinking and weed smoking had started messing up his life and he decided to move in with his grandmother. After moving out and going to coll...

What works for you is what works for you! Try everything and see what sticks. Maybe understanding your shadow self will help. Perhaps reading about someone else who has been on a crack bender will make you feel less alone. Maybe the practical tools of Buddhism will soothe your anxious mind. Everything is connected, and perhaps if we can destroy our inner queerphobia/transphobia and start to love the gender diversity inside us, we c...

Today we hear from Johnny. Johnny grew up with a father who drank quite a bit. He made it to the age of 19 without ever drinking or using drugs, and then after signing up for the navy, he started to party. Drinking felt like a better version of himself - at first. After leaving the military he started working at a bar on Dickson Street. The drinking culture of bartenders gave him a free pass to take shots whenever, and to be drunk ...

In this week's episode, Early shares a bit about addictive cravings and how to survive them. They also share a few resources of things that have been helpful for them along the way. However, what's most important is to find what works for you. Do you like running? Music so loud your ears bleed? Yoga videos? Do you like calling your mom? Make a list of things that you like, and that you know make you feel better when you're done doi...

Trigger warning: brief mentions of sexual assault and self-harm.

In today's episode, Early speaks with Hope. They were raised by their grandparents due to their parents being in active addiction. Hope was determined to not be like their parents, but things didn't turn out the way their kid self had planned. They began by smoking weed to alleviate cramps, and later started stealing beer from their grandparent's fridge. Skipping scho...

Let us continue to bathe our brains in a soup of new information. This month's list contains two addiction memoirs and a book on attachment theory, as well as three single-episode recommendations for podcasts on attachment theory. 

Books:

I'm Black and I'm Sober by Chaney Allen

Pill Head, The Secret Life of a Painkiller Addict by Joshua Lyon

Attachment Theory By Thais Gibson

Podcasts (single episodes):

Mahon McCann - #63, Attachm...

Obsidian returns! In today's episode, we discuss the complexity of using again after a period of abstinence. Our healing work doesn't just disappear, and it can inform our experience when we use again. Picking back up again can be very different, end quickly, and be a reminder of why we quit in the first place. The danger lives within our perspective, and whether we view ourselves as inherently "bad" for using again. Do we believe ...

Randy's life started with tragedy and abandonment trauma; he was the sole survivor of a car wreck that killed his mother and two brothers when he was only 9 months old. Growing up he was always the odd one out until he found drugs and bad kids. He managed to keep his life together for a long time while drinking and using a variety of drugs. Eventually, crack became his downfall. Years of hard drug use landed him in a scientology ba...

In today's episode Early goes over our inherent need for both community and alone time, why your social anxiety makes you normal, how alcohol advertising targets our "wound of existence", anti-individualism, why normal things don't feel good anymore, and the ultimate question to ask while socializing:

"Why am I here??"

Follow along with the slideshow: Click here!

Johan Hari's Ted Talk: Click here!

Want to be interviewed on this pod...

Trigger warning: graphic descriptions of physical and sexual assault, frank discussions about eating disorder

In today's episode, Early talks with their friend Elise. Elise suffered sports concussions as a kid and had to stop playing soccer, which at that time was a huge part of her identity. A resulting change in her body and self-image led to an eating disorder as a teen. During high school she experimented with alcohol with her ...

Today Early discusses a few more books & podcasts to supplement your recovery, along with a speech from their soapbox and for some reason - a lot of cussing. Enjoy.

Books:

Not Drinking Tonight by Amanda E. White, LPC

Karamo by Karamo Brown

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Gabor Mate

Podcasts:

Sort of Sure by Samar Kargbo

Feel Lit by Ruby Williams and Susan Larkin

F*cking Sober by Anita Drake

Donate to our cause! Venmo & Paypa...

Trigger warning: death by overdose, brief mention of suicidal thoughts.

Check out Andie's support group! email recovery.punks@gmail.com for the link

Andie's life started in a family with everyone in various degrees of neurodivergence and addiction. They began as many of us do, with stealing beer out of a friend's parent's garage fridge. Soon they got in legal trouble from bringing alcohol to school. They and their brother both pr...

This is a replay of Early's interview with Samar Kargbo on his podcast "Sort of Sure" - a podcast about imposter syndrome. Early talks about their time in EMS, a bit about addiction, starting a nonprofit, and how they overcome seemingly insurmountable tasks.

Check out Samar's work - https://samarthinks.com

Donate to our cause! - Venmo & Paypal @recoverydemsytified

Instagram - @recoverydemystified

Logo - Stevie Petet

Theme Music - L...

Want to tell your story on our podcast? Send an email to info@recoverydemystified.com

Sophia grew up in a house where both parents drank. She took her first drink when she was 12 and was smoking meth by age 14, and began rebelling in every way possible. She met some older friends, began selling meth and weed, and remarks on how her relationships felt transactional. Later she went to prison several times, once where she was subjec...

Another curated list of recovery resources to help you on your journey! It is time to reprogram our brains and bathe them in a soup of new information.

Books:

Dry Humping by Tawny Lara

Girl Walks Out of a Bar by Lisa Smith

Laziness Does Not Exist by Dr. Devon Price

Podcasts:

Recovery Rocks by Tawny Lara and Lisa Smith

Chasing Heroine by Jeanine Coulter

Can't afford one of the books on the list? We will buy it for you! Send an email...

Trigger warning: Sexual assault in childhood & adulthood, brief mention of animal cruelty, religious trauma

Today we hear from Misha. He describes his childhood as both boring and traumatic, having grown up queer in a strict religious household. His brothers introduced him to the liquor cabinet, and after they moved away, it became all his. A sexual assault in college sent him spinning out of control and he shortly found himself in...