Straight stuff on addictions

This isn’t a story about talking to deceased loved ones but it is a story of dedication, perseverance and giving back.  The newspapers and comedians sensationalized the “sober bar” concept and missed the point.  These guys, Chris and Steve, along with a number of other young sober people took a concept and gave it legs despite controversy, doubt and mistrust.  This is also the story of a community that took a risk, saw something positive and supported it.  Join us this Sunday to take a closer look at “The Other Side”.

Welcome to our one year anniversary show.  We'd like to take you behind the scenes and give you a little straight talk about "Straight Stuff on Addictions" and Recovery Internet Radio.  Rick's son, engineer and co-producer and his wife Moe will co-host the show and give you an inside view of some of our highlights, laughter and touching moments.The show has had it's share of spontaneous moments and we suspect that this one might have a few surprises too.

People want and need to know what happens in the world of high school age drug and alcohol use.  We’d all like to think that it won’t affect our kids but we all know that it is present, accessible and dangerous.  We’d all like to look into the crystal ball and see what’s there and how it all works but we can’t.  Fortunately we have people like Connee Meschini who know kids, talk to kids and have the compassion and insight to work with them.  Join us as Connee and several of her “kids” discuss the high school drug and alcohol culture, trends, parents, peer pressure and more.

I don’t think we can generalize about war and addiction but let’s just say that Vietnam was a “substance rich environment”. I also don’t think that any of our panel guests this week would say that war caused their addiction problems but I’m certain it didn’t help in any other way than to add velocity towards the bottom.  Each of our panel guests this week served in the Vietnam War, found their way to their own personal turning points and struggled their way to recovery.  Join us this week as we tune into a discussion between recovering guys who have “been there”.

The treatment program introduced her to Alcoholics Anonymous then told her to “get a sponsor and work the steps”.  I’m sure it sounded like a good idea, sorta like “hey, grab the life preserver or you’ll drown” sounds like a good idea to a lousy swimmer in deep water.  So who is this “sponsor person” supposed to be; a buddy, a triage nurse, the alcohol police or some kind of booze sensei?  To our guest the confusion was secondary to finding a way to follow through.  The seriousness of the alcoholism overrode the mind games and she got her first sponsor.  Everything else unfolded from there.  Join us this Sunday night to experience a fascinating journey through the ups and downs of sobriety with the help of an AA sponsor. 

This week we'll be talking about the importance of diet and fitness to help get back into balance, particularly in early recovery but also as it applies to maintaining quality long term sobriety.  Abuse of any substance can lead to serious nutritional deficiencies and health problems which effect mental function and mood as well as slow the recovery process.  Fortunately, most of these problems are correctable with education, mindfulness and the adoption of some new patterns. On the other side of the coin, addictive behavior tends to bleed into other aspects of our lives, overeating, overspending, over everything, especially around the holidays. Subsequently health can suffer, we get out of balance and it can adversely affect our sobriety.  Join us Sunday night as we talk to Chris A., a nutrition and wellness coach.  Let's look at how taking care of the body can keep you in your right mind.  

Some kids have a lot to handle in their early years and much to put into perspective in later years.  Jeane grew up necessarily fast in a loving but chaotic home where mental illness and active alcoholism were the guiding principles.  The second oldest of six she was both caretaker and alcoholic in training.  She found a way through the chaos, to make peace with her past and into recovery.  Join us this week to hear her inspirational story.

Our guest this week will take us inside “the family business”; a business consisting largely of illegal activities and straight up criminal behavior.  From a large urban family he was exposed to the criminal element from the time he could walk.  Alcoholism and criminal thinking ran neck and neck for first place in his head; booze and drugs fueled the fire. Learning to work the system he avoided the worst of the legal consequences until both his alcoholism and the law caught up.  Sober now for more than a dozen years he’ll recount how recovery from both things was necessary for his recovery.  He'll tell you himself that it's a miracle he's alive and that for the last dozen years or so the world had been a safer place.

“Those who are unaware of history are doomed to repeat it” and I suspect that includes family history.  After generations of alcoholism and addiction our guest found a way to transform his personal history.  In this transformation his two boys played a vital role. Not wanting his boys to suffer with the same addictive pattern that so many of his family experienced he found a way.  He found his inspiration in his own kids.  His story is compelling, scary and inspiring.

Nobody even used the word “Alcoholism” to describe what happened to Julie’s family.  It wasn’t understood or accepted at the time as a reason why she and her siblings came to school with dirty clothes, bruises and uncombed hair.  It wasn’t until a few years later when a helpful and unsuspecting church worker used the A word that Julie began to understand. Julie began a journey through anger and rebellion, painful addicted relationships and loss to recovery.  Today Julie is a bright light, a holder of the secrets of recovery and a published poet.  Please join us to hear an amazing story of recovery.

The thought of jail/incarceration is a disturbing one.  Who wants to be confined for a long period of time; punished for illegal activity?  Who likes to think of themselves as a person who has acted in such a way as to need confinement?  But could jail actually help people into recovery?  Could jail propel some or motivate others to get sober and stay sober?  Let’s explore the complex relationship between incarceration and recovery.  This week’s show will be a panel of three recovering people, each with a different perspective on the topic; one sober and about to enter prison, one got sober in prison and has stayed that way and the third is a recovering man that had a number of incarceration experiences that affected him in different ways.

Eric’s search for serenity, sanity and a spiritual connection is a journey that led him to separate from everything familiar.  After a highly successful traditional career, he descended into a dark place filled with the perils that many seekers must face; fears, resentments, blame, self-absorption, reliance on chemicals and things other than spirit.  He returned with a profound understanding and sensitivity to the natural world and the Great Spirit. His story is filled with intensity, courage and a glimpse into other realities.  His path into recovery is an adventure story filled with love and perseverance.  Join us this week for an experience of the sacred, chanting and song.

  Most of us are working stiffs and have to find a way to earn a penny or two, pay the bills, keep the kids fed all the while keeping our sober priorities in order.  Some of us travel and even spend a good percentage of our work time away from home base, home groups and family support.  What does it take to find an effective balance between work-life and what it takes to stay connected, stay active and stay involved in your recovery program?  Let’s welcome Eric C a guy who has found a way to be successful in life, in sobriety and in business; a guy with a good program, a happy family, a solid marriage and highly responsible job.  Is he happy because he has a good job or is he happy because he has a good program that allowed him to have a good job?  Let’s find out.  Join us this week on “Straight Stuff on Addictions”.

We have to face the facts; heroin is here, its readily available, its not only dangerous but deadly and it’s killing people with alarming regularity.  Even knowing heroin’s lethal potential the addiction is powerful enough to convince even well-informed minds to continue to use.  Tonight’s guest will talk to us about the hellish life of a heroin addict and the joy of recovery from that life.  Steve’s story of recovery begins with the loss of another friend to heroin. We hope you'll join us Sunday night to get some harsh but real information about a deadly subculture that exists right under our noses

I got to know Kathleen through contact with her teenaged son who was just being discharged from a treatment program.  As I got to know her son I also got to know Kathleen as a fierce advocate for both her son and for recovery.  I further came to know her as a recovering person herself and I learned about her dedication to her spiritual life and her family.  I recently came to know that she has lived many lives in recovery starting with healing the wounds from her own alcoholic family.  Kathleen is a wealth of knowledge, perseverance, hard experience and boundless hope.  Please join us this week to feel family recovery in action.