Flat Out Recovery

This week, we look at how young people are affected by addiction, how they may or may not access treatment and the reasons why. We explore some more dilemmas, based on lived experience from early recovery. Also, we're talking about cake, putting vegetables in porridge and alcoholic anger...

This week we're looking at organisation and time management. We're also talking about provision and funding for detox and treatment, and we find more than a few contradictions! And lastly, we have the first part of our interview with Bob, who describes his spiritual journey.

This week we're talking about the effects of addiction on our mental health and how it is (or isn't) addressed in recovery. We also look at how our cognitive faculties and short-term memory are affected by the years in the madness.

This week we're looking at detox and rehabilitation, at what is available, how it can be accessed and at some of the issues surrounding its provision. We also look at the importance of the dry house process and how this can serve as a means towards sustaining long-term recovery. And on a lighter note, we're talking about bonding with fish...

When dealing with addiction and its consequences (to the individual and to society), is treatment a better solution than punishment? We're also looking at how addicts and alcoholics are both branded and marginalised in society as a whole.

This week, we're joined by Russell Brand and Changes UK's CEO Steve Dixon. We're talking about addiction and just about everything it entails.

This week we're talking to Casey from 'Addiction & The Family Podcast'; he talks about where and how his journey started and where he is now. We look at some of the issues affecting the families of those who suffer from the disease of addiction and how we approach dealing with them.

This week, we're looking at 'that feeling of having missed out' because of years spent in addiction, while our Mediawatch uncovers some uncomfortable truths about alcohol and the news. And what would we do if we could time travel in recovery?

What is a mental defence? Why do we need it and how do we use it? This week, we're talking about how we reset our default  mechanisms in recovery and how we build up our mental defences and use them in everyday situations. We have more from our media watch and more dilemmas particular to early recovery. Meanwhile, the cats are wearing hats...

This week, we're looking at the ways in which alcohol and drug-related incidents are reported in the news; in fact, conducting a simple search on the topic reveals something very unexpected! We're also looking at stigmatisation and judgement as a result. We have more Vox Pops, and our cats are wearing some questionable, but striking headgear...

This week, we touch on decriminalisation, the effects of lockdown on alcohol consumption and the representation of addiction in the media. We're also talking about how we engage with 'normals' and 'real world things' as we grow in recovery. Then, for some reason, we're looking at superheros, drunk villains and the value of  routine...

As it's affected what we do, we're talking about the lingering presence of Covid, how it affects us in recovery and how we live with it. We have more on unmanageability and  the dreaded R-Word, 'Responsibility'. Also, we're looking at the media representation of addiction and those who live either in it or with it.

More stories from the recovery front line, past and present. There's a curious tale of brogues in the hospital and we present our own version of a popular gameshow format. Also, we're addressing more dilemmas, particularly those surrounding the use of medication in early recovery. We also present some Vox Pops, aimed at those at the very beginning of their recovery journey.

This week we look at unmanageability and punctuality, beginning with our own. Becoming organised is not a given, just because we come into recovery! We consider some more dilemmas, aimed particularly at the early recovery experience and we play some more games.

This week, we're looking at how addicts and alcoholics manage to circumnavigate and subvert the rules and conventions of the workplace, plus we imagine how this might happen on a mission to space. We're also discussing more dilemmas, most pertinently on the question of rash decision-making in early recovery.

This week, we're talking about how we negotiate New Year as addicts and alcoholics and the potential perils of making resolutions. Also, we discuss how we can fall into old habits and what we do about that when it happens.  We look at how we rediscover our feelings (both positively and negatively) in recovery and lastly, we have some more early recovery dilemmas.

This week, we're looking at how we manage (yes, we mean that!) New Year and remain clean and sober, particularly with regard to what is necessary and what isn't. We look at some more dilemmas, focusing on the kind of problems people experience either during the treatment process, when living in dry houses, or in early recovery per se.

This week we're talking about Christmas and Recovery. How do we manage our first Christmas clean and sober? We look at how coming into recovery changes our perception of the festive period, how we endeavour to manage it with a different mindset and the effect on family and friends. We're trying out some game formats this week, so do bear with us while we make them work!

This week, we look at how our relationships with family and friends can be tested during the festive season, at how relapse can happen to anyone at any time, and how relapse is handled in a therapeutic environment. Meanwhile, our cats are considering resistance, revolution and 80's action flicks...

This week, we're looking at responsibility, the dangers of 'carrying on the party' long after everyone else has stopped and the effect of this on day-to-day life. We also look at how getting clean and sober won't just wash away every problem we had in addiction; we still have those problems, but our approach needs to change. Meanwhile, Reg the cat is forever overcomplicating his plan...

This week, we look at secrets and lies. What happens if we relapse and try to hide it from our nearest and dearest? What happens when we try and hide it around the rooms? Why lie about having a sponsor or not? Every secret and every lie undermines the process of recovery, unless we fess up. Needless to say, we also have cats talking about toupees...

This week, we're talking about dishonesty and its myriad effects in and around the rehab process. We also take a look at 'Blamethrowing', at the perils of shirking responsibility and at how our working lives suffer in active addiction.

This week, we look at the perils of railroading straight into making big decisions in early recovery, and we ask whether we can end up doing 'too many meetings'. We also have the second part of our interview with Michael, and we're talking about the use of TikTok in recovery, among other things...

This week, in the first part of our interview with Michael, we talk about maintaining and managing recovery through lockdown. We also look at how friends and family can misinterpret or misunderstand what we mean by abstinence in recovery, and at how relapse affects a rehab environment.

This week we look at dishonesty, specifically in the first few months, and the lengths to which people will go to sustain a fake recovery. Also, we're looking at how people in early recovery respond to relapse in one another. We discuss 'Cooking (or the lack of it) Under The Influence'. and last but not least, we finally meet two of the Daltons...