AJ McLean | From Early Stardom with the Backstreet Boys to Alcohol & Drug Addiction to Recovery, Mental Health Advocate & Pretty Messed Up Podcast Host

Austin inherited his addictive genes from his father’s side of the family. His father’s mother had schizophrenia, and many of his other family members have bipolar disorder. At the age of 3, Austin was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. The doctors told his parents that he would have about 18 to 19 years to live. It was tough growing up having that hanging over his head, which would lead to depression and anxiety issues early on in his life.

As a kid, it was tough for Austin to do his schoolwork and remain focused. He learned later that he had ADHD. He would have trouble just sitting still in class, and even doing small tasks or projects were difficult to finish.

Early on, Austin became obsessed with the world of broadcasting. It was one of the only things that kept his attention and later developed into a career. At age 9, he had a broadcasting studio built in the basement of his parent’s house. He would create his own shows for public access in his hometown. The local news came out to do a story on him and after that, it propelled him even further into broadcasting. At the age of 17, he already had a job with the local FOX television news station in Portland. This is when his drug use and experimentation started to take off.

At this time, Austin’s mother had a heart attack, so he moved back to Oregon to be closer to her. In Medford, there was no cystic fibrosis clinic, he wasn’t getting the care he needed. He was getting really bad headaches and was prescribed Vicodin. This started his new addiction, where he was taking 3 pills every 4 hours, to get the effects he wanted. Then his doctor started prescribing stronger medication like morphine, liquid oxycodone, soma, suboxone other various pain meds.

Then after those meds, he started getting addicted to Adderall, for his ADHD which started acting up and getting worse during his time. This was a really bad combination, so he stopped taking the crazy combinations of meds, and unfortunately switched to alcohol. Alcohol was everywhere and readily available, which made it really tough for him to quit. One of his close friends came from New Mexico, stayed with him for a while, and ended up dying from an alcoholic seizure while they were drinking together one night.

Even after the loss of his friend, he continued to drink until it really got out of control. He was drinking at all times of the day, and he finally realized enough was enough. He checked himself into rehab and has been sober for the past 6 months.

Austin now hosts the Reed Report and Central Valley Talk here in Central California. He continues to get therapy, and support from his wife and twin daughters, and family to continue his sobriety. Now Austin wants to share his story in the hopes that it can change other lives for the better.

This is Austin Reed in his own words, on Knockin’ Doorz Down.

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