The Recovery Elevator Podcast

Has addiction always been a problem? Alcohol has been around for thousands of years, but has alcoholism? In Gabor Maté's book, “In the realm of hungry ghosts” he states: “The precursor to addiction is dislocation... the loss of psychological, social, and economic...

When we are in the throws of an addiction to alcohol, the effects go beyond just us.  They affect our family and those closest to us. After running the podcast for 3 years, Paul has begun to notice patterns emerging.  One of the biggest patterns he noticed might be...

The alcohol industry gives the government funds to prove light drinking is safe. In today's era of information overload, it can be difficult to sort the truth from the strong opinions.  As the lines between journalism, science and advertising continue to blur, it can...

A quote from “Drinking: A love Story” by Caroline Knapp sums up the theme for today's podcast: “Early sobriety has the quality of vigorous exercise, as though each repetition of a painful moment gone without a drink serves to build up emotional muscle.” Life will...

“Do I have a drinking problem?”  Part II The first episode under this particular theme came out back in March of 2015. In “Drinking: A Love Story” by Caroline Knapp, a questionnaire is presented that will help you determine whether or not you have a drinking problem,...

Do the medications work? Paul reads messages he received from different podcast listeners about their experiences with some of the various medications often prescribed as quit aids for quitting drinking. Though they are not known to be an effective all-in-one cure for...

Why do we drink? When we no longer drink alcohol, the many reasons we used to drink come bubbling to the surface.  What may have started out as a fun activity or a social lubricant often morphs into a way to (not) deal with life's problems.  The barrage of pro-alcohol...

“Your addiction will lie to you in your own voice.” Your addiction will often appear to you as a voice in your head that sounds like your own rational thoughts.  It will tell you that it's not really that big of a deal, that you are really in control or, in many...

If you haven't done so already, make sobriety your number one priority. It may seem selfish to prioritize yourself over other things, but to really be present and of service to our loved ones and the community at large, we must take care of ourselves.  When we root...

Step Four – “Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves” The Recovery Elevator Podcast isn't affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous, but we cover the steps due to listener demand. For easy lookup: episode 142 was Step 1 episode 146 was Step 2 episode 152...

“Enhanced Dopamine Receptors” or EDR The word “alcoholic” carries such a stigma in today's society and also implies that one's addiction to alcohol is somehow different compared to other addictions.  A more accurate way to describe the situation of those struggling...

“Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting” You can't always believe what you hear.  Just because we believe that everybody was kung fu fighting, doesn't mean that everyone was kung-fu fighting.  In fact, upon further research, it turns out that no one was kung-fu fighting in...