Tales from the Jungle - Living with Addiction

In this final episode of a 2 part series, I continue my conversation with Angel who gives us an unfiltered and unprecedented view of living and recovering as a Herion/Delaudid addict.

In this Part 1 of a 2 part series, I interview Angel who is an addict recovering from her drugs of choice, Heroin and Delaudid.  Angel gives us a front seat view of her life of addiction and recovery.

In this new series, I am exploring through various interviews how people are coping with the drug and alcohol epidemic.  My first interview is with Alicia Carson, the daughter of an alcoholic dad who created havoc through Alicia's entire childhood.  Alicia gives us her lessons learned.

The work life of an addict can be a double-edged sword – they need to support themselves but it can lead them back down dark alleys. In addition, when and how they choose their dating partners can be equally messy.  In this episode I am talking about pitfalls to watch for and what, if anything can be done.

In this special episode, the last of 2 parts, I will be talking more about the “secrets” I have learned over the years.  I will be directing my focus especially around self-care and remembering that if you don't have good boundaries in place you may not always make the best decisions when it comes to the addict in your life.

Did you guess the singer for my Episode Title?  Then like me, you're a fan of the 80's . . .My research on addiction has come from life lessons, information from any television shows I can find and years of living in the addiction community with my daughter Casey.  While these are my lessons and listeners may have different variations, I have found that there is a common thread among many who live with this disease and it is helpful to keep reminding ourselves how to navigate around.

When an addict lives in the family there is never peace and harmony.  While there are cycles of emergencies, any down time is a period of waiting for the next emergency.  When your whole life is a crisis, both husbands and wives need to know that their partner has their back.

How do we cope when the crimes that used to be on the outside have now invaded our home?  It's one thing to watch shows like Chicago PD on television but it is quite another to live that life.  If you live with a alcohol/drug addict you know just what I mean.  I can't solve the problem but I can talk about strategies to think about.

This is part two of my interviews with my husband Richard.  He has a great way of telling stories and if we don't laugh at ourselves they we will just drown in self-pity.  I am sure everyone has such stories and it is just a matter of looking at the humor of these unbelievable situations.

An integral part of my journey has been my dependence on God to get me through.  In this episode I explore the impact of God on my life and my journey.  While not everyone has the same belief in God, relying on Him has helped me in my darkest times and I believe everyone needs that kind of belief.

As the title implies, this episode is all about trust – Can I trust Casey and can she trust me?  This is a self reflective journey that may echo some of the thoughts of you the listener.  I hope to take these musings all the way through until I get to the other side.

This is part 2 of a 2 part series.  If you did not listen to part 1 already, please go back and listen to that episode first. It will help put this episode into perspective.  This episode continues to discuss my take on the podcast of “Why is this Happening” with Chris Hayes – the Episode from February 4, 2020 entitled “The Frontlines of Addiction with Beth Macy.” His interview podcast is a sociological view of the opioid crisis. Beth Macy has some interesting statistics that she discovered while writing her book, “Dopesick.”  This is one of the most intelligent interviews that matches in every way our family's experience with addiction and heroin.

This is part 1 of a 2 part series and probably the most important 2 episodes that I can do.  It discusses my take on the podcast of “Why is this Happening” with Chris Hayes – the Episode from February 4, 2020 entitled “The Frontlines of Addiction with Beth Macy.”  His podcast interview is a sociological view of the opioid crisis. Beth Macy has some interesting statistics that she discovered while writing her book, “Dopesick.”  She also has some new astounding statistics about MAT which stands for medication assisted treatment.  This is one of the most intelligent interviews that matches in every way our family's experience with addiction and heroin.

The topic of this podcast series deals with heavy material that can be overwhelming at times.  Our family's way of coping has always been through laughter.  From time to time, this podcast will have an episode of funny stories of true-life events as told by my husband Richard.  This is the first episode in that series.

This episode discusses my experiences with what enabling behavior is and isn't.  This term may be one of the most misunderstood in the addiction world.  My aim is to talk about how I went from misunderstanding that one word and all the destruction that went with it to a gradual recognition of how to spot it in myself and others.

This episode discusses the stress for family members when an addict (daughter, son, sibling) is on the brink of death either through overdosing, lack of nutrition or just based on their living on the edge lifestyle. It is a discussion about healthy boundaries and when it makes sense to help or let an addict figure it out.

This episode is an introduction to Season One of a new podcast that I, Chelsea Dimitri (this pseudonym is explained in this episode), am presenting.  I am the mom of a heroin addict who was addicted for 15 years and at the time of this recording has been in recovery for a couple of years.  I believe family members of addicts are underserved. They have few resources and the “experts” are recovered addicts who have a drug abuser's perspective.  That can work great for an addict - but not necessarily for sober family members.  I hope to give family members caught up in the storm that surrounds addiction hope and help with their perspective and some options of what worked (and didn't work) for me.