Sober Living Stories

From Combat to Recovery: Nick Padlo Builds a Legacy by Helping the Addicted

• Jessica Stipanovic • Season 1 • Episode 30

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Join us as we welcome Nick Padlo, an Iraq war veteran and accomplished business professional who openly shares his personal story from military and business success to battling addiction and depression.

Throughout this episode, Nick opens up about his darkest moments and the pivotal steps he took to reclaim his life, ultimately leading him to establish rehabilitation centers and advocate for mental health and recovery.

We discuss the story behind Nick's decision to open Sophros Recovery | Addiction Treatment Center in Jacksonville, FL, and  Sophros Recovery | Addiction Rehab Center | Tampa, FL (sophrosrecoverytampa.com) in Tampa, Florida.  He talks about a transformative trip to Cambodia that inspired a mission to address the gaps in post-residential treatment care. This discussion highlights the critical need for comprehensive support that goes beyond abstinence, addressing both addiction and underlying mental health issues to foster lasting recovery.

Nick and I discuss practical advice on identifying personal triggers and developing healthy coping mechanisms, from new hobbies to supportive relationships. Discover the strategies for managing codependency, insecure attachment, and people-pleasing tendencies in relationships, which often lead to emotional turmoil and relapse.

This episode emphasizes the significance of geographical changes breaking old patterns, the continuous journey of self-improvement, and the profound role of empathy and advocacy in the path to sustained sobriety and recovery. 

To connect with Nick Padlo:
Sophros Recovery | Addiction Treatment Center Jacksonville FL
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/sophrosrecovery/
(26) Sophros Recovery: Overview | LinkedIn
Sophros Recovery (@sophrosrecovery) • Instagram photos and videos

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Your story matters.

Speaker 1:

So often, the best advocates for change and recovery are people who have lived it themselves. Meet Nick Padlow. He has a history in the United States Army, where he spent 27 months in combat operations between Afghanistan and Iraq. He earned the Bronze Star in Combat Action Badge. He went on to Stanford University for Business and became a CEO. His recent move into substance abuse treatment is a direct result of his personal battle with depression, anxiety and substance use disorder. After getting treatment himself, he defined his personal mission to help others get through those dark times. He believes that everyone can find their way back, regain their lives and live a life free of suffering.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Sober Living Stories podcast. This podcast is dedicated to sharing stories of sobriety. We shine a spotlight on individuals who have faced the challenges of alcoholism and addiction and are today living out their best lives sober. Each guest has experienced incredible transformation and are here to share their story with you. I'm Jessica Stepanovic, your host. Join me each week as guests from all walks of life share their stories to inspire and provide hope to those who need it most. Hi and welcome to another episode of the Sober Living Stories podcast. My guest is Nick Padlow. He's a West Point Academy graduate, stanford alumni and Iraq war veteran whose life was derailed by addiction. He's turned his journey into a legacy by opening two rehabilitation centers and becoming a mental health and recovery advocate. Welcome, nick, it's great to have you on the show.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, jessica, I appreciate it.

Speaker 1:

Could you just share your personal story and just lead us up to where you are now? I know you had opened two rehabilitation centers and dedicated your life to helping others get out of addiction themselves. So if you can just take us to your own personal sobriety story and how it turned into your career, yeah, sure, happy to do it.

Speaker 2:

So I grew up here in Jacksonville, florida, and by all accounts, I had a great childhood, I think.

Speaker 2:

A lot of times we kind of try to trace back where everything started and as I reflected on my time in addiction, I never really found anything. You know much from my childhood that really contributed to that. It was a great childhood. I, you know, really excelled, you know, at a lot of things and kind of got a lot of accolades. And again, maybe that was part of it that I'll talk about later on was this kind of quest for perfection. But you know, I went to West Point, I spent my 20s and, you know, in war and people say, well, maybe it was the war, you know, but I don't have any. I also don't have any, you know, specific kind of PTSD to point to, or any specific event where I say, wow, that was really traumatic for me. I felt like I was okay when I came home and I went through my, I guess, late 20s and I did drink. I didn't drink until I was 21. So I didn't start early either, but I did drink in my 20s and kind of was a bit of a party guy, I guess, like went out and had fun, but it always stayed there. You know. It was never overboard in a really big way, at least in my mind.

Speaker 2:

I think where my relationship with alcohol and drugs as well, you know, really started to shift was, um, I got a divorce, um, and for me it was. You know, I think I had, I had done so many things right in my life that I kind of that was my identity, was this guy who does things the right way and does things right, and I, I'd failed at something that was arguably the most important thing, or at least that's how I phrased it in my mind. And you know, with alcohol and drugs as well being a part of my life, I think I just really leaned on them and at some point along the way, you know, shortly thereafter, that relationship changed and it changed in a big way. You know, they say we always say in recovery, you know, once a cucumber becomes a pickle, it can't go back to being a cucumber again. You know, and I had, I had certainly become a pickle and you know, not having any really close family or friend experiences with like, diagnosed, you know, substance use disorder, like, or anyone that officially referred to themselves as an alcoholic, I'm sure I knew some um, but I didn't, I didn't know anything about that, and so, you know, for quite a while I tried to, you know, just manage it, right, you know, and as, as we say in Alcoholics Anonymous, you know, I, I, I recognize that my life had become unmanageable. Um, and and I, it took me a long time to do that and so I would fight it. Um, you know, and in the meantime I was going to business school at Stanford.

Speaker 2:

I was, you know, starting a business. It was an Inc 1000 business like super successful Um, and you know, unfortunately, I, I built that business to the point, I guess, fortunately or unfortunately, I built that business to the point that it didn't need me much. And so, you know, I was able to do well and show good face to investors and, you know, have success. And meanwhile I'm, you know, working an hour a day staring at one email trying to figure out how to hit send, and, you know, not brushing my teeth for six months because I'm so depressed, right? And you know, I thought I was.

Speaker 2:

I drank because I was depressed, and probably did, but I also was depressed because I drank, and so it was just this vicious cycle of a spiral where I drink because I'm sad, I'm sad because I drink, and then it goes down, you know, and in 2018, I really had my. You know, we'll call it rock bottom. I don't love that term because I think there's always further. We can go rock bottom. I don't I don't love that term because I think there's always further. We can go.

Speaker 2:

Um, but you know, I remember I was, um, you know, I I'd stepped down from my business, um, because I knew that I just couldn't do it anymore. Um, you know, and I was. I was sitting in a hotel room in Dallas and I was drinking and using, using cocaine and I was trying to decide if that was going to be my last day, you know, and, um, I don't know. I don't know what kind of um, you know, maybe it's a God moment or whatever you want to call it, but, um, you know, that day I decided to pick up the phone and I Googled luxury rehab. I remember, um, I didn't know anything about it, I just wanted to go somewhere nice. If I'm going to go, you know, uh, which is funny, cause I was, you know, not in a nice place, um, but I ended up finding somewhere great. Um, I got lucky. You know. Now, knowing what I know, I wouldn't recommend anyone Google that Um, but it was um ended up being a great place and, um, you know, I got a month of sobriety out of 30 days of rehab. That's what I got, but it wasn't the rehab's fault.

Speaker 2:

I went back in 2018 and I realized that at that point, I realized I had to work a program, I had to do something else and so, in true addict behavior, I decided one day before discharge from rehab, I was going to move to Cambodia for three months and live at a temple, studying mindfulness, you know, and keep in mind, at that time it was so.

Speaker 2:

It was about four hours of yoga a day and four hours of meditation a day, and, keep in mind, at that point, I had done exactly one hour of yoga in my life and that was with goats in California.

Speaker 2:

And so, you know, total addicts behavior move, but at the same time, it was really what I needed, um, you know, and it allowed me to learn how to stay in the present moment, and I think that was, um, you know, a big part of my journey and and I have had relapses since, and we can talk about that, but you know, it's um one of the things that I realized is that you know this is going to be a lifetime journey for me and it's I'm always going to have to work to maintain my sobriety.

Speaker 2:

You know it was say one day at a time, but you know it's kind of a cliche, but you know that's. The reality is that you know, if I don't, if I don't do my work and I don't stay in balance, um, my mental health doesn't stay good and I don't stay sober. So, um, that's been my I've, I've kind of journeyed through, you know, times in smart recovery, times in AA times in you know my, you know Eastern philosophies and like all of those kind of come together to help me, um, you know, in my journey. So I'll stop there and let you ask the next question.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so you hit on quite a lot. So we have a lot in common. So we both I live about an hour and a half from you. I'm over in the Port Orange, daytona beach area. You know you really described to me is what alcoholism is. You know if you're a true alcoholic. You described, you know you cross over that line and you know the only way to get back into your true self and your true passion living is to. You know, do the work. And you know where. You went to Cambodia. I went to Indonesia.

Speaker 1:

You know, I think it was three and a half years, you know, you know that that was my big idea, like, hey, I've got. You know, I've got so far, so I'm going to go do this, and you know it all served a purpose. But I think what was important to mention is you came from, you didn't come from a dysfunctional home, you had a relatively good childhood, and people come from all different places, you know, and it's and as did I, and I think the perfectionism is is to a real key because, as you had noted, I too felt like how can I not, how can I continue to fail at this, Like I have been doing well in my life? But that was the one thing I couldn't fix correctly and the repeated failed attempts just continued to feed into my you know lowered self-esteem and my you know negative self that I was turning into and the disease was just just pummeling me, you know, and I couldn't get off.

Speaker 1:

So I totally relate with that and you know, I think you, being an advocate now for people getting well, you really have a background that could and an understanding of, like, what this really is and what this takes to stay on track. Everybody has a different bottom, you know, and I like how you said I don't like to call it that because it doesn't mean we have to be completely on the ground and in some, you know, dilapidated place and just destitute, I mean you can get off whenever you want. So it's so relatable to me and what you're saying. So, yeah, continue like what happened next.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So, um, you know, after I came back from, uh, cambodia it was um I moved to Jacksonville. So, you know, I changed um again kind of a you know, extreme we'll call an extreme rather than an addict behavior move. But um picked up, moved to Jacksonville, changed everything in my life, right. So now I'm changing job, I'm changing cities, I'm changing relationship, I'm I mean everything, just, you know, burn it to the ground and start over Um, which I don't, I don't recommend people say, don't make too many changes in early recovery.

Speaker 2:

Um, but I, I felt like I needed to make a lot of changes, um, you know, to those people, places and things that you know kept me sick. And so um came back to Jacksonville, um, you know, and my thought was how can we create or build something that will help people who are struggling with the same types of things that I'm struggling with? And so, you know, on one hand, I've got my, you know, alcoholic mindset and my mindset from what I've learned, and on the other hand, I've got kind of my business, you know, entrepreneur attitude toward it. And so I tried to look at, you know, this, this space of recovery, and say, like, what's missing, you know, and for me, it was everything after residential treatment I felt was missing. Um, you know, I think there's a lot of people that are, and there's some you know nerdy business reasons why, but there are a lot of people that are doing residential treatment. Well, providing residential treatment, well, um, not everyone, I mean, it's not a blanket statement for sure, but there are a lot of good providers.

Speaker 2:

But then, after people get out of residential treatment, you know, the next level of care, which we call partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient, people call it IOP, is what generally people talk about. It just seemed like there was a big drop off, you know, and and what I saw was that in residential treatment, we were doing dual diagnosis treatment, we were doing EMDR, we were looking at the underlying causes of you know what, you know what caused us to drink or use in the first place. And in IOP, it was like just don't drink. And it's like, okay, well, like, if I could just don't drink, I wouldn't have. You know, just don't drink. And I was like, okay, well, like, if I could, just don't drink, I wouldn't have. You know, just don't go to treatment, right, but I needed that, you know, and I needed more.

Speaker 2:

And so, you know, I found that in Cambodia, right, but, but I felt like we were kind of doing a disservice to to people here, and so that's what led me to start soft roast recovery, which is our treatment center here and you know not to make this about soft roast, but, um, you know that's what we try to provide. Is this, um, true dual diagnosis approach to how do we start to understand the reasons why we keep going back to this and how do we learn to get well while experiencing triggers? You know that's one of the problems. You know one of the problems in residential treatment, which serves a lot of good for a lot of people. But one of the problems is you're not. It's very easy to stay sober when you're, you know, locked in a building.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, like a lot of times people say you know, it's just that I did not go to residential treatment, but I know a lot of people benefit from that because they're allowed to remove themselves from their daily living and it makes the world stop, and they kind of needed it to stop so they could focus and start to understand recovery in a secluded environment where that's all there is. But what you're essentially saying is, when they get out, how do they matriculate back into life and walk around and so provide them those tools to do that? How do you use that in your everyday life? You talk about triggers, because this is like a drinking world. I mean, it's not going anywhere. It's like people have food addictions. They have to eat but we don't have to drink. And how do you navigate life without that and be successful?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean, I think the first thing is to really identify what those things are, right, you know, and to go deeper on that. You know, I think a lot of times people say, oh, my triggers are relationships. Ok, well, like, what about relationships? What about relationships trigger you? Well, like, when someone doesn't like me back, ok, well, like, let's dig into that, let's figure out what that means, like, where did that come from? Right, where is that? What does that look like? You know, I'll give an example.

Speaker 2:

So for me, you know, relationships are a big trigger for me, and a lot of it is due to my tendency to be codependent, my tendency to have insecure attachment, my tendency to want to people, please and like, build this kind of, like, you know, emotional volcano where I, you know, try to do everything the other person wants because it's what they want, and I hold everything in and then, all of a sudden, you know, something doesn't go as I expect and this kind of, you know, emotional volcano or, you know, trigger volcano or whatever it is, just erupts, right, because all the pressure is building, because I wasn't being assertive, and so, you know, really understanding what your tendencies are and what those things are that you, um, you know, get, get triggered by times of day, places, emotional states, celebration like, and then, and then starting to dig into those. So we identify it first and now we start to understand it and then we start to train more on it. So, you know, last year I I follow like a tick tock emotional relationship influencer I guess you call him, you know, and I love what he said about insecure attachment and and all I mean it was funny, it was humorous, right, as a you know he's an influencer, but I reached out to him and did a three month coaching engagement to to try to target that about myself, right. So we identify this thing that's wrong, and then we go work on it. And then you just repeat that because other stuff's going to pop up, right, and there's going to be other things that you say, oh man, now I'm struggling with this, let me work on that, or let me find something that puts Let me work on that, or let me find something that puts a layer between me and that drink.

Speaker 2:

I struggle every day when I go home at 5 o'clock, driving by the liquor store, driving by the gas station. Okay, well, what can we do about that? We know it's a problem. What kind of accountability can we put in place at 630 that ensures your sobriety? Or should we think about adding naltrexone or Vivitrol to reduce cravings, like you know at? You know a little earlier in the day, like what are those things we can do once we've identified the triggers and then play it out in real time, and that's kind of like kind of same thing we do in our program, which is it's okay, like people are gonna have people are to have relapses in the program, right. But the great thing and the beautiful thing is hopefully it's short, hopefully it's not too damaging, and then we get an opportunity to see what happened, address it, work on it and hopefully it won't happen again. You know that's my goal.

Speaker 1:

You know, living sober and being alcohol free and not living right is just as painful for a lot of people, you know. Can you talk about that a little Cause you probably-.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, sure, you know there's an acronym I heard at a therapy lecture one time and they said sober stands for like son of a, b. Everything's real and you know, we would be remiss if we didn't say that at some point our drug of choice served us well at some point, right, and you know, often it served us well for short durations, um, but what it did was it? It silenced some of the noise, you know it. It quieted the emotions, it quieted the thoughts, it quieted having to feel the pain of day to day life or whatever it might have been.

Speaker 2:

And you know we, we obviously can learn that, you know, a lot of that is kind of caused by, or exacerbated by, the use, but at the time it serves as that tool. And so when we remove alcohol, we're taking away our you know training wheels, so to speak, right, we're taking away this thing that that in some ways protected us from all the, the you know, emotional and mental danger we were facing, right, um. And so we can't just, um, take it away and not do something right, we have to replace it. We have to replace it with other things in our life, we have to replace it with tools and skills to deal with emotions, we have to replace it with new friends and new hobbies and new activities and like, because otherwise we'll just be empty right, and that's no way to live either.

Speaker 1:

Let's take a moment to hear a recovery story from one of my sponsors. At the age of 25, recently married and a new father, jack found himself in a Texas rehab facility detoxing After 10 years of addiction. He was finally able to admit that it was time to get help. Not only did Soberlink allow him to be accountable and track his sobriety, soberlink allowed Jack to prove to himself and others that he could make the change he had always hoped for. Soberlink is the portable sobriety tracker taking the recovery world by storm. It has built-in facial recognition sensors that detect cheating and instant results sent to contacts. It's the number one accountability tool for keeping yourself honest and rebuilding trust. Visit wwwsoberlinkcom backslash sober dash living and check out the show notes to click the link and receive $50 off your device today. Now back to our guest. What did you think those geographical location changes you made? How did that benefit you? I know for me, like will follow you anywhere you go, or whatever.

Speaker 2:

And so you know, I think that's true. But I also think that you know we talk about this concept of people, places and things, and you know, for me, you know, getting a new, having new scenery, having new stimulation. You, you know, I think, from a like a neuroscience perspective, what it does it starts to build new pathways in your brain, right, and you know we've, when we're in our active addiction, we build these kind of neuropathways about addiction that are like super highways, you can imagine, like Los Angeles on the 410 or whatever it is, where it's, you know, 812 lanes wide right, and so our brain always wants to take that route because it's the easiest and the fastest. Well, what we have to do is we've got to, like, build new roads. You know we've got to build those experiences.

Speaker 2:

I think for me, what they did was they helped me build new roads and new neural pathways in my brain, and over time, that other one shrinks down Right, and so now it becomes break even at some point where it's like my brain's like OK, I can go back down that road, but I can also go down this road.

Speaker 2:

It's nice too, and so I think that's what it started to do. For me, it was like build new ways of thinking, new ways of seeing the world that became an alternative to the old way that I saw it right, which was, you know, mired in addiction and alcoholism. And what I've learned, you know myself, is that if I ever choose to take that road again which is now, you know, the alcohol and drug road, or whatever, which is now a, you know, one lane road just like everything else, or two lane road, it blows back up to a you know one lane road, just like everything else, or two lane road. It blows back up to a superhighway, immediately Right. And then it becomes, then it becomes something that looks like a default, and so that's the danger, I think you know, in going back. But but you still have to to build some new roads, you know, in your life and new ways of thinking.

Speaker 1:

I think so that's why I like the internal reorganization that happens, like when we get better, is so important, and the good news is you know, yes, it's something you have to maintain forever. I don't know if you'd agree with this, but like we could take it as far as we want. You know it's like your life can get as good as it can get. You know there's no limit, just like there was no. You know you can go as far down as you want. Once you get sober, you can go up as high as you want to go, getting help in different ways, putting people in front of you that are like positive influences and to who kind of keep you accountable, like what about community for you Do? Do you have any community that you are currently in that, or do you have a couple point, people that just hold you to the place that you're supposed to be?

Speaker 2:

So a few different things. So one um, yeah, I'm involved in um smart recovery meetings, um, which is self-management recovery training. It's a community group similar to AA but different in some ways, a little more focused on cognitive behavioral therapy and stuff like that. Um, so I do those. Um, I wouldn't say that's a primary support system for me because I I host them at Sokros and so, um, you know, I am kind of running them as opposed to being a participant. Um, it's still good for me though. And then I also go to AA meetings via Zoom, sometimes in person, more often on Zoom I do have a sponsor within AA and I work the steps with my sponsor. I go to him when I'm struggling, so I have a sponsor.

Speaker 2:

And then, thankfully and I know the situation is probably not this for everyone you know my work family is, you know, an amazing support system. You know it's the benefit of being surrounded by, you know, 20 therapists Is that they know how to listen and they know how to talk through stuff and to kind of identify things in you. You know that might be yellow flags. Hey, you know, nick, like I don't like how you're. You know it doesn't look like. It looks like you're losing yourself a little bit in this you know situation, or you're you know, are you doing good today? Like you need to take some time you need to like, are you getting burnt out? You know they'll ask those questions that I don't think most colleagues are going to ask in a normal day.

Speaker 1:

But and we do that for each other as well- so, how do you think you being um having experienced addiction in your life, in your past, helps you be a better advocate for people today?

Speaker 2:

I mean, I think it would have been hard, for I think there's some people who can do this, um, but I think it would have been hard, for I think there's some people who can do this, but I think it would have been hard for me to have the empathy that this job requires. You know, without having been there myself, some of you know, some of our therapists aren't in recovery and they have this like special gift of like, what do they call it? You know, unconditional, positive regard, Right when they think the best in someone, even when they're, you know, maybe not doing the right stuff, um, and they, they can really empathize, um, for me, I didn't have that empathy before, before, not that I had no empathy, you know, I think I was a relatively empathetic person, but you know it's, you know when, when you see someone who's you know relapsed 12 times and you know times, and put other people at risk and is acting selfishly, and it's like I get it, I get it, man, I understand, I get it. This disease has got you. There was a line in the movie the Town he's like whose car are we going to take?

Speaker 2:

It's given me the empathy I think to to understand where people are coming from and to be able to and and I think the most important thing is they know I understand where they're coming from.

Speaker 2:

Right, it's not so much my understanding, it's their trust that I understand and that I'm not going to abandon them and that I that I get it and that I've been there and that I know how much this sucks. Right, and you know, as an alcoholic, if you know as an alcoholic, if you know there is, I try to fight this. But there's still some part of me that's like when someone's not recovering, like yeah, but you don't get it, like you don't get it, you haven't been here, you know you don't get it. And I try to fight that because I know that's not doesn't mean someone can't help me, right, but that's my own work, you know, to work on those things. But I think it's just so much easier to give someone the credibility to say, okay, this guy gets it and he's doing this for the right reasons, and that makes me want to succeed and so we, you know, hopefully get better client outcomes as well.

Speaker 1:

When I decided that this was for me and I was definitely alcoholic and I needed help. I was also in a hotel room in Washington DC and I had called a cab to take me to a meeting that I had looked up I did not Google luxury rehab. There was a time that I remember sitting on the back porch of my brother's house, way before that last time, and I said, you know, I'm going to go to rehab. And then my second thought was I can't go because it's too expensive. And I remember closing that book and I could have walked into my house and told them I needed help and they would have bent over backwards to help me, you know.

Speaker 2:

And they would have gotten me.

Speaker 1:

I would have said I wanted to go, I want to go to rehab, can you get me there? They would have taken me there that day, but instead I didn't ask for help and I uh, I think it was years before I came to a point where I I asked, finally asked for help. So you said Google luxury. You wouldn't recommend that Googling luxury rehabs.

Speaker 2:

No, because most of them are not good.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I know it, but some of them really are Some of them are and I think you know my advice what would you tell listeners to Google?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean, I think the first thing that I would do is I would go to the reviews, right, go to Google reviews, google my Business reviews and see what other clients and sometimes you have to weed through stuff but see what other clients say about it. Right, and it's not. You know, it's nice to have a nice place, right, sure, um, you know. But at the same time, you know what you're looking for is clients who had a good experience, that learned something about themselves, that were able to, you know, maintain sobriety or or at least go get down that path and start heading down that path of trying, um, you know, and it's you'll pretty easily be able to see the good from the bad when you do that, I think in most cases.

Speaker 2:

Um, so that would be my first recommendation. And you know to your point about, you know, expenses, you know, I could, I Googled that because I had good insurance. But you know, the reality is anyone can get into treatment, treatment, and you might not be able to go where you want to go, but there are programs, there are sliding scale fees, there are, you know, state-sponsored places, and you know again like maybe you don't get to go to the place you want to go, but you know getting help is better than not getting help.

Speaker 1:

I wouldn't want listeners to be deterred by the myth that I had that kept me away from good help you know, because I know there's insurance and I know you know. Just someone had said you know, just call them. You know, call your. You know, call your center and ask the questions 100%. I never made a call. I could have made a call that day, I could have saved myself years. But just reach out and let the professionals at the facilities direct you.

Speaker 2:

And this is such a relationship business at the facilities direct to you. And this is such a relationship business because there are going to be people that I can't help that another place can help, and there are going to be places that they can help that I can't help. And hopefully all of us are in this for the right reasons, which is to help people heal and regain their lives. And so when you call OneCenter, you're not just accessing the resources of OneCenter, you're also accessing everybody that they know too most of the time, because if you're not a fit there, they'll send you somewhere else and they'll help you get it. It's what we do as a treatment community, and so you don't have to think about calling 20 places. Sometimes you'll call one and if that's not the right one, they'll direct you in the right direction.

Speaker 1:

You know sometimes you'll call one and if that's not the right one, they'll direct you in the right direction. What would you say to people who are listening, who need help or are ready to make that decision? What are some things that you can tell them to do?

Speaker 2:

I think the first thing is to call someone. Like you said, you know, while this is a purely tactical thing. On number two, you know you might want to look into seeing if you can get insurance. If you don't have it, One of the things that I would say is if you're not making, you know, a lot of times in active addiction we've gotten ourselves to the point we're not making any money, right, but the good thing about that is that you know there are these exchange program policies that are done by your income. So if you have low income, then it's going to be really cheap and you may only need it for a few months, but it can be there as a resource. So I would just reach out to somebody again, reach out to someone that knows what they're talking about, somebody that deals in insurance. But that's a practical step. But if you're thinking about going down this path, that's something that can help you have better options.

Speaker 2:

Three is get up and go to a meeting. Right, there's a, you know there's a meeting everywhere, and if not, there's meetings online. You know hundreds and hundreds of meetings online every hour and every half hour, and just start to surround yourself with other people that are in the same boat. You may make a decision to go to treatment later. You may make a decision that to treatment later you may make a decision that you know this 12-step path alone can work for you right now. Whatever it is that you make, but nonetheless get to a meeting, start to talk to you know other fellows and, like you know, hear their experiences and hear their you know strength and hope.

Speaker 2:

Then one just warning. I mean I think you know if alcohol is with alcohol, or you know benzos or whatever is someone's drug of choice. Also, consult a medical professional when we detox from alcohol or benzos. That can be life-threatening. And so if you're drinking a high volume for a very long time, um, you know, cold turkey without talking to a doctor is not advised. I know sometimes people try to do that and you know sometimes it has disastrous consequences. Um, but you don't need to tough this out and you know there are things a doctor or hospital can prescribe that'll help you go through that detox process safely.

Speaker 1:

So, um, where can people find you during the week if they want to connect your best platform? And then also if you can put us there, our phone number's.

Speaker 2:

There I'm at the office every day, but um, uh, but yeah, you can find us there. We're also on Instagram just trying to kind of provide some, you know, strength and hope for people and positive messages. Um, but again at soft roast recovery. Um, but yeah, that's us and you know, feel free to to give us a call anytime.

Speaker 1:

Thank you so much for being here.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much, I really enjoyed it.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for tuning into the Sober Living Stories podcast. If you have been inspired, consider subscribing and sharing with anyone who could use hope in their lives. Remember to stay tuned for more inspiring stories in the episodes to come. To view our featured author of the month or to become a guest yourself, visit wwwjessicastephanoviccom.