The Truth About Addiction

February 12 2017, the day Daniel walked into a detox centre and never looked back. Daniel’s father was already in recovery when he was born, his mother worked in the addiction field for 40-plus years, so Daniel didn’t grow up surrounded by addiction. He just wanted to know what alcohol tasted like as a child, so at 13 years of age, he got himself a 6 pack of Budweiser and got blacked out drunk.  W...

In today’s episode, Joel from Victoria tells us about the destruction drugs brought onto him, how they transformed him into a different person and the bewildering actions during his drug-induced psychosis.  Growing up in a good family, Joel found himself gravitating towards older companions when his parents split up at the age of 13. He started to experiment with drugs like marijuana and speed. Th...

Many would know Brad through the Sober Motivation/Sober is Cool community. Brad is always readily supporting people in their recovery journey through various platforms that he established since embarking on his own path to recovery in 2010. In this episode, Brad takes a seat on the opposite end of the table to recount his personal narrative encompassing his encounters with mental health challenges...

Born to an English mother and a Chinese Malaysian father, Chee always felt like the odd one out during her early childhood. Her teenage years were marred by both physical and emotional abuse by her parents, leading her to seek solace in substances like alcohol and marijuana, which she started using at the age of 14.  Chee bravely opens up about her struggles with addiction, including sex, love, pr...

Today’s episode is a personal narrative of Jimmy and I. In 1974, Jimmy sold me my first shot of heroin. It was a life-changing experience, but if it wasn’t Jimmy, It would have been someone else. I was just a junkie looking for a quick shot. Jimmy and I reflected on our pasts, the strides we have made in our life journeys, and the accomplishments we have achieved today. It’s been a rollercoaster r...

Residing in Bali, Jack Ahearn, 25 years old, has abstained from substance use since May 2016 when he was just 17 years old. Jack exhibits unwavering dedication to his passion for sports, leveraging it to make a positive impact on the lives of those in need. Through his non-profit organisation, he has undertaken extensive runs covering hundreds of kilometres, raising funds to provide sustenance to...

Inspired by Ron's podcast, Shaun underwent a transformative experience that led him to commit to a life of abstinence. Shaun candidly shares the arduous journey of detoxifying himself at home, reflecting on how this process has profoundly altered his outlook on life. His newfound sobriety has enabled him to embrace the role of a devoted and proud father to his children, emphasizing the import...

Claire has been sober since 8th September 2016. In the past, she struggled with excessive drinking, often experiencing blackouts. Consuming three bottles of wine nightly, she held the misconception that alcoholism was confined to daytime drinking rather than nocturnal habits. To conceal her drinking problems, she went to great lengths, such as hiding her recycling bin and disposing of wine bottles...

Randal spent his childhood in New York City. When he moved to LA in his early twenties, that was when the drugs hit high gear. Randal shares his journey in finding spirituality and the disillusion of identity - who am I? Through learning the traditional Chinese teachings, Randal found the connection, love and ‘the gift’ he was searching for.  “We have to go through these trials and tribulations to...

A proud Indigenous American man, Sober Junkie, a brilliant musician and social media influencer with a strong following, has been passionately spreading inspiration and motivation about recovery, positivity and sober living.  ‘These young guys need to hear from us dinosaurs.’ SJ opens up about his family’s generational addiction and his first encounter with addiction through painkillers, then the...

Andrew has found his purpose in life: to make people laugh. From a young man who discovered magic mushrooms in Thailand, Andrew had managed to become a large-scale supplier of mushrooms in Sydney, and later on, acid, MDMA, cocaine and ketamine. He was the one-stop shop for all kinds of party drugs.  When his house got raided in 2021, it forced him to sober up during his prison sentence. The drugs...

Daniel Brown, AKA Mullet Lord, knew that he was an alcoholic. ‘I believe I was born with this illness.’ Next month, July 2023, will mark his 9 years sober. Dan talks about the ups and downs of recovery.  When the family moved to the beach at 2 years of age, Dan developed a  perpetual love for the ocean. He was inseparable from the water and had a dream of being a pro surfer. At his 16 birthday, Da...

Todd grew up in Newcastle footies town, where everyone’s dreams and life revolved around the sport. When things got tough, when things were down, Todd turned to footies. His addiction didn’t start until late teenage years after he started to associate with the wrong crowd. Losing his rugby league dream and facing legal troubles, Todd spiralled deeper into his addiction, causing strain on his finan...

“I lived in a victim mentality for so many years that today, I have a victor mentality.” Kerrie Atherton, Founder of ‘EMPOWER Life Solutions’ and Stories of HOPE’, dedicates her life to helping people and sharing stories of HOPE. Kerrie is 42 years in recovery. Getting clean at an early age of 18, it wasn’t an easy journey, but one that was absolutely rewarding. Kerrie’s childhood was traumatic, d...

Growing up in Sydney West, Nathan was surrounded by drugs and criminals. At a young age, he idolised and longed for the lifestyle where everyone else had all the ‘good stuff’. Nathan got into drugs and gangs by the age of 15. He found that while using, he didn’t care about anyone or anything. He would get extremely violent and get involved in many fights. Nathan ultimately spent 12 years in total...

Sonya, in her young world, had the perfect life until her father left when she was 8 years old. Sonya’s mother was a functioning alcoholic. Sadly, her mother got involved with another heavy alcoholic, although Sonya was happy to find love from a ‘father’ that she had been craving for. Her step father gave her everything she asked for, including cigarettes and ecstasy. She finally understood that h...

Benjamin Lerner is a Vermont-based Composer, Writer, Radio Host, and Recovery Advocate. With music and words run in the family, Benjamin is a classical piano prodigy, with an outstanding flow of lyrical rap.  ‘I came from privileged.’ - Benjamin. He was a smart kid, aced his papers easily and knew what he wanted in life. Until the alcohol caught up. With heavy alcoholism, drugs use, dropping out o...

Caroline has a great message in her book Downstairs Church: Finding Hope in The Grit of Addiction and Trauma Recovery. Not an ordinary story of a woman finding recovery, Caroline has gone through many significant traumas in life. She found alcohol and drugs and fell in love with the new ways of ‘escapism’. When Caroline first attended meetings, she felt connected with other people’s stories and a...

Leonard left school in year 7. He couldn’t read or write at that stage. He was getting in and out of prison as a teenager and picked up his first drugs in between those sentences. As the addiction got serious, his crime got serious too. Leonard had been in A, D and H Division at Pentridge, Bendigo, Ballarat, Dhurringile and various other Correctional Centres, but the worst prison for him is ‘the p...

Johnny Lewis is well known as Australia’s greatest fight trainer, who has trained six World Boxing Champions. To me, he is a good old family friend that I have known forever since my childhood days. ‘I’m not a toughie, I’m a sook.’ - Johnny Lewis John grew up in Erskineville, with the Erskineville Oval being his proud backyard. John never has a bad thing to say about anything. His intention is alw...

On today’s episode, I had a really good chat with my friend and tattooist, Rhys Gordon, whom I have known for nearly 30 years. We discussed tattoos, our addiction in tattoos and our ‘beginnings’ before tattoos became the ‘normal’ form of self expression.   I had a chance to extensively narrate my story of the journey to getting my bodysuit done. Tattoos actually opened up doors for me to meet many...

Lucky Diamond Rich is well known as the most tattooed person on earth. This street artist, performer and Guinness World Records holder is one of the most recognisable person you ever come across.  Lucky, an Indigenous Australian man, grew up around domestic violence. When a community circus group went to his school in West End, Brisbane to teach basic circus skills, he took to it like a duck to wa...

Mary remembers her father as the most dedicated, passionate doctor and a loving father. When her father went to AA to stop the drinking, Mary decided that she would do the same, stop drinking and partying as well. In her early 20s, Mary dreamt of being a lawyer, so here she is today, an absolutely beautiful, intelligent, thriving strong woman who is a highly respected barrister. She is also a devo...

‘Everybody in the fire brigade knew I was a junkie’. Dan Resnick disclosed his early days as a fire fighter who was always nodding off on heroin. From the age of 15, Dan was smoking pot everyday, then gradually acid and heroin were introduced into his life. Heroin was his love, and so ‘that started off his journey as a junkie’. Dan shares some funny stories on his multiple detox attempts, doctor s...

Former Black Power president Phil Paikea was born in a little country town, Helensville, when ‘respect was paramount’. His parents were hard working, they didn’t even have a Tv, life was hard, and there were a lot of domestic violence. Phil ran away from home at 16 years old and was introduced to alcohol, drugs and gang life.  Phil now works to help other men living a violence free life. He is the...