04/01/2026
Many thanks to Jim Richards (Radio Host), Mike (tech guy) and Ben Harrison of NEWSTALK 1010 AM radio in Toronto for thinking of me to share my story and thoughts about a sensitive subject that affects most of us. Here's a link to today's interview about Tiger Woods' car crash, nodding off at the wheel, to and other substances; drawing from my own recovery story from .
It was hope and others that meant everything when I had nothing, sitting in jail for 18 days and then a brutal 2 years that followed, including 6 months of inpatient rehabs and finally finishing off the venture with 8 months of incarceration. All of which.... made me a better version of myself. Please be kind to those struggling with substances and alcohol. They are probably hurting in ways you have no idea about. Before recovery, unprocessed adverse events over my entire childhood had silenced and even isolated me, so, I'm pretty certain the same occurs with others. The self-medicating of substances is to numb the pain or distract from it. A "maladaptive coping strategy" as it's called in Psychiatry/Psychology.
I pointed out that those who feel EUPHORIC upon taking their first opioid (say for pain control) are at higher risk for addiction than those who do not experience this calming sense of peace and the melting away of life's stresses, including unprocessed psychological pain (say from bad breakups, betrayals by loved ones, or adverse experiences where one could not control or stem the thing that caused them great fear at an early stage in development, particularly those going back to childhood where there are no learned coping tools to employ).
That was me but I didn't realize until 7 years of recovery that my self-medicating could have bee related to the unresolved adverse childhood experiences that deeply affected me, even later shaping my personality and impairing my development. For example, something happened to me at age 7 or so when I learned what absolute fear tastes like. It only lasted about 3 seconds but changed me forever. That fear of not knowing what to do in an emergency compelled me to later become a medical doctor specialized in Emergency Medicine (to see all aspects of disease and physical trauma to avoid it ever consuming me again).
So, there are layers. Be kind, compassionate and open minded instead of a rudimentary, unrefined human being who jumps to judgement and scorn (really, to make them feel better about themselves it seems). Which version of you do you want to be?
He shares his emotional story with Jim. The latest on Trump and the war in Iran GUESTS: Dr. Dov Gebien - ER physician, addiction recovery advocate, and keynote speaker Sean Foley - professor of history at Middl...
