RE 136: One in Eight Americans are Alcoholics
Recovery Elevator
Paul
4.7 • 1.8K Ratings
🗓️ 25 September 2017
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
New data has revealed that one in eight Americans are now alcoholics due to an alarming rise in alcohol consumption in women, elderly people and ethnic minorities.
Experts at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism say that the rise could constitute a public health crisis that is being overshadowed by the opioid epidemic and marijuana legalization.
During an 11 year gap, the number of people who received a diagnosis of alcoholism shot up by 49 percent, meaning 12.7 percent of the population - or roughly one in eight Americans - are alcoholics.
Megan, with 11 hours since her last drink, shares her story
SHOW NOTES
[5:15] Paul Introduces Megan. I'm from Baltimore, Maryland. I am 38, single, with a live-in boyfriend.
[7:19] Paul- What forced you to reach out to me again, and give us a little background.
Megan- The whole point of what you are doing is when you can relate to other people. I love that you are an advocate for the acceptance part of it. People are ashamed to come out so to speak. I didn't start drinking until late in college. I liked the way it made me feel. I wasn't self-conscience. It was never really a problem. One day in my late twenties I realized I was drinking everyday.
[23:49] Paul- Talk to me about your withdrawal symptoms.
Megan- It's usually worst the second and third day. The shaking and the anxiety is the worse. I can't shut my brain off.
[26:36] Paul- What's your plan? How are we going to do this?
Megan- I am going to get through today. One day at a time. Right now it is just getting through today. I know that I want to get sober and stay sober. Am I done yet? I'm not entirely sure. I want to be there, but I don't know if I am.
[32:36] Rapid Fire Round
- What was your worst memory from drinking? Blacking out. I started drinking after a run; I woke up the next day and had no memory of how I got home.
- Did you ever have an "oh-shit" moment? About a month ago, I got up in the morning and was walking to the grocery store and I couldn't walk. I inched across the street and went back home.
- What's your plan moving forward?
- What's your favorite resource in recovery? I love podcasts. The HOME Podcast, the Shair Podcast, Recovery 101.
- What's the best advice you've ever received (on sobriety)? Don't beat yourself up.
- What parting piece of guidance can you give listeners who are in recovery or thinking about quitting drinking? You are going to feel crappy. Don't make it worse on yourself by pouring poison into yourself. It's going to get a little bit better everyday.
- You might be an alcoholic if the liquor store on the corner knows exactly who you are, and lines up 4 mini bottles of Fireball everyday at 9:00 in the morning.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
It's a public health crisis: 1 in 8 Americans are now alcoholics By Abigail Miller for Dailymail.com
Connect with Cafe RE- Use the promo code Elevator for your first month free
Sober Selfies! - Send your Sober Selfie and your Success Story to info@recoveryelevator.com
"We took the elevator down, we gotta take the stairs back up, we can do this!"
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Recovery elevator |
| 0:03.4 | episode 136. |
| 0:02.4 | Similar to cancer. It's not it's not your fault. It happens and and people are ashamed and I've been ashamed I don't want to talk about it |
| 0:10.1 | but I think the more that people talk about it and the less stigma and shame is put on is Paul. Thank you so much for joining us. |
| 0:27.0 | According to the Recovery Elevator Suburiety Tracker on my phone, I've been sober for three years and five days. On today's |
| 0:33.8 | podcast we've got Megan. At the time of the recording she's been sober for |
| 0:37.4 | 11 hours and 20 minutes. She says the words all these emotions came up that I couldn't handle. That's a big part about |
| 0:45.9 | getting sober is developing new coping mechanisms to help us handle all these uncomfortable |
| 0:51.6 | emotions. |
| 0:52.7 | It was a powerful interview for me |
| 0:54.6 | because I never want to forget what it was like |
| 0:57.3 | when I couldn't stop drinking after I'd started, |
| 0:59.9 | what that anxiety felt like, |
| 1:01.4 | where I felt it. The acute pain that made me feel. that |
| 1:05.0 | that made me feel like everything was crashing down. |
| 1:07.0 | It's the ism of alcohol ism, the incredible short memory that's extremely dangerous. My addiction constantly tries to remind me |
| 1:15.8 | that things weren't that bad. But it's interviews like this one with Megan to |
| 1:20.1 | help remind me that I'm not missing out on anything and drinking really did suck. |
| 1:26.0 | And before we get to our topic today, let's hear from Café A. |
| 1:30.0 | Before I got sober, I felt alone. |
| 1:32.0 | It felt like I was the only one in the whole world who found it extremely difficult to stop drinking once I had started. |
| 1:38.0 | With Cafe R.E. I now know I'm not alone. In fact, there are so many people all around this world just like me. |
... |
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