How Crack Addiction Brought Him To Rock Bottom

In episode 30 of F The Stigma Podcast, host Laisha Martinez sits down with Michael to share his story of addiction, recovery, and rebuilding his life. From early identity struggles to his first experiences with substances, legal trouble, and near-death moments, Michael opens up about what it took to reach rock bottom and finally seek treatment. He discusses relapse, homelessness, and the importance of finding a sponsor, setting family boundaries, and doing the hard internal work of change. Together, Laisha and Michael dive into stigma, mental health, overdose prevention, Narcan access, and what recovery really means. This conversation is raw, real, and a reminder that addiction recovery is possible.

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Chapters |
00:00 Meet Michael & Podcast Intro
01:05 Growing Up: Childhood and Family Dynamics
02:27 Trauma, Emotions & Early Identity Issues
04:07 First Experiences with Substances
07:07 School Years and Deepening Addiction
10:19 Legal Consequences & Arrest Stories
13:31 The Role of Psychedelics and Opinions on Recovery
16:15 Abstinence, Relapse, and Recovery Definitions
19:35 Reaching Rock Bottom & Going to Treatment
23:39 Homelessness, Health Scares, and Near-Death
27:01 Finding a Sponsor & Starting Over
31:39 Family Boundaries, Al-Anon & Building Relationships
34:47 Describing Addiction & Seeking Internal Change
39:34 Struggles in Recovery & What Matters Most
43:12 Forgiveness, Amends & Maintaining Relationships
47:11 Foundations for Recovery: Steps, Community & God
53:40 Powerlessness & The Nature of Choice in Addiction
54:46 Treatment Industry, Body Brokering & Advice
01:00:06 Stigma, Normalizing Recovery & The Mental Health Crisis
01:02:44 Why Are We Addicts? Nature, Nurture & Accepting Reality
01:04:50 Overdose, Narcan, and Access to Help
01:07:08 Final Thoughts & The Importance of Conversation

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Pod links |
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Fuck the Stigma is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that believes people shouldn’t be judged or labeled based on their mental health status. Whether you are struggling with an addiction or have been taking meds for a diagnosis, our community doesn’t judge and seeks to collectively end the stigma around mental health.

Our mission is to normalize mental health and mental illness as widespread, treatable, and acceptable. We do this by providing useful resources, improving access to services for those who need help, sharing stories, and building a community of young people who all agree…

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