Living Free

Mitch introduces a roundup of latest news and initiatives relating to Drug and Alcohol issues in Australia and discusses them with Bill. Aus Alcohol Industry is suffering from less consumption than ever. Driving Trials for Medical Marijuana. New data indicates that Australia is projected to generate a staggering $15 billion in online gambling revenue in 2024.The Victorian Statewide Action Plan - a...

Shaun, a Mununjali and Goorenpul man living with his family on Yuggara country, found recovery from addiction through SMART Recovery during a recovery retreat several years ago. It was the first recovery program that had spoken to him, showing the way through the problems of substance abuse that he felt he had been looking for. Realising that although personal substance abuse was the immediate iss...

Rao Morusupalli is a comedian and part time astrophysics fan. He called in from Sydney to discuss what substance and alcohol use is like in Melbourne's standup comedy scene. 

Margie shares her story of beginning a poker machine dependency when her child first went to school. It was a relief from the responsibilities of single parenting and allowed her to forget about life’s pressures. Although it didn’t interfere with her work or life, gambling on the pokies meant that instead of having a comfortable life she was always working longer, just scraping by, getting into de...

In this episode, Ann and Mitch chat about how Al-Anon works as a world wide organisation in which people whose lives have been affected by another's drinking support each other to solve their common problems. 

Christine shares her story of dealing with her teenage son turning to recreational drug use, then developing mental illness and how she responded.  Twenty years later she has a better perspective on the impact of this on herself, her son and her family. Dealing with the combination of drug addiction and mental illness had been challenging and learning to cope was just the first step. Christine als...

Angelo shares his story of developing a gambling habit through his family’s interest in betting on horse racing. Sitting with his dad on Saturday afternoons placing bets and listening to the races moved from a social pleasure into a full-blown obsession that led to compulsive gambling from his late teens. Gambling soaked up all of Angelo’s spare cash and meant that although he had a good income, h...

Natalie grow up with an alcoholic father and a religious mother who kept the peace by avoiding conflict with the alcoholic. Feeling overlooked in her family, Natalie looked forward to a life independent of it. When she moved away to study and begin a career, she found that she still had to reckon with her family relationships, finding difficulties with each of her parents at different times, recon...

The child of migrant parents who worked long hours, Amanda remembers feeling isolated as a child. She remembers bingeing on food at the age of 8 and has spent many years struggling with compulsive over-eating, using food to calm herself whever she feel restless, irritable, discontented or otherwise uncomfortable. Overeaters Anonymous has shown Amanda that she is not alone and that it is possible ...

Dan grew up with normal parents but felt uncomfortable in the world. His insecurities and fears led to a nervous breakdown in his early teens. Dan discovered alcohol as a 16 yo and found that it relieved his overwhelming feeling of being different. Alcohol allowed him not to care about what others thought about him and, like many alcoholics, he continued to drink to blackout, even from his first d...

Alex talks about growing up with a dad who was dealing drugs and spent time in prison. He had a happy childhood but being without his father in his early teens he started drinking and the pain of losing him in his late teens sent him into a dependence on drugs. Alex managed to maintain his job initially but eventually the impact of drug use meant he couldn’t work. He first came to Galiamble Men’s...

Nadine grew up with a father who drank and a mother who suffered from depression. Her mother died when Nadine was 13 and after an unsettled few years in the care of an aunt and then a housekeeper, Nadine found herself married at 16 to a drinker. During the marriage she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital where she overheard her husband commenting to the staff that Nadine's behaviour was the rea...

Ellie has struggled with the texture and taste of certain foods her whole life. This has resulted in social anxiety and guilt over not being able to eat healthy food during school. Since graduating and moving out, Ellie's relationship with food has improved and she explains where she's at now with some perspective. 

Anthony grew up in an English village, enjoying much freedom as a child. As a young adult he developed a love of travel and, using his training in information technology, found himself teaching computing in a Kenyan school. In Kenya he met his first wife, and together they moved to Australia where they took up farming, while bringing up their two sons. It was when his marriage ended that Anthony b...

James talks about growing up as an Aboriginal in Western District of Victoria, how alcohol affected his family and how alcohol and drug abuse became part of his life as he dealt with early trauma and PTSD. Sport was a constant during James’ life, providing an opportunity for participation and enduring friendships. Inevitably, his alcohol and drug use led him to have extended periods of imprisonmen...

Jennie grew up with young parents and had a disadvantaged childhood. Eager to fit in she learnt early to not reveal much of herself and just reflect the values of others. Jennie found moving from the UK to Australia in her early teens quite traumatic and in her late teens left home and went to live with acquaintances in St Kilda. Her reasonably quiet life fairly quickly transformed to smoking dope...

Mandy grew up in a household dominated by an angry father who, from the time Mandy was three years old, was a sober alcoholic. Her mother was passive and the other members of the family fell into roles that made sense to them to manage the situation. Mandy tried to be the 'good girl' who didn't cause any trouble. As an adult Mandy had her first child with a sober alcoholic, then married and built...

Replay of a show from 16 January 2020 with updated music and announcementsCarol grew up in a family affected by her dad’s drinking and violent behaviour. Feeling like the black sheep of the family she started drinking around 12 years old - alcohol changed her perception of reality and she only wanted to drink if she could get drunk. Alcohol led to considerable problems in Carol’s life causing her...

Andrew shares his story of developing a gambling habit through pokies in his late teens.  It provides an insight into the progression of his gambling addiction, about the effect of alcohol and how it often accompanied his gambling. Andrew also shares about his initial contact with Gamblers Anonymous and of not taking recovery seriously until it affected his mental health, via an attempted suicide....

Damian talks about the Ngwala Willumbong Aboriginal Corporation, that exists to meet the needs of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander People, their families, and their communities. Ngwala seeks to drive positive change and healing by focusing on a variety of services such as alcohol and drug treatment and recovery, housing, homelessness, and a range of other support services. Damian works at one o...

Robbert has been off the punt for 18 years thanks to help from Gamblers Anonymous and talks about how he was introduced to gambling in his late teens and early twenties around Sydney’s casinos and nightclubs.  He talks about his first big win and how he ploughed it all back into the pokies, plus more the next day. Robbert’s life deteriorated as he spent his weekly pay-packet on the pokies on payda...

Dan, a member of Al-Anon, grew up in a household in which another person's drinking was out of control. One of his parents was safe and nurturing during the day but in the evenings became a more dangerous presence. This inconsistency resulted in Dan feeling confused about how to trust people and eventually angry and distant from his parents. At 15 he went to Alateen where he found it healing to be...

Rebecca is studying policy reform online at university. We discuss her perception of drugs and alcohol growing up, how it's effected her today and speculate what the future of drug reform might look like. 

Lois grew up in a family that did not talk much about feelings. She did not have the language to understand her feelings until she was diagnosed with depression. Later, with the stresses of parentling, body dysmorphia and widely fluctuating weight, Lois found her way to Overeaters Anonymous. Despite her initial reluctance to accept the spiritual aspects of the Program, Lois was relieved to hear ot...

Dan grew up with normal parents but felt uncomfortable in the world. His insecurities and fears led to a nervous breakdown in his early teens, and he was medicated for anxiety from about 13 years old. Dan discovered alcohol at 16 and found that it relieved his overwhelming feeling of being different. Alcohol made his life appear normal and like many alcoholics he continued to drink to blackout, ev...