Addiction on Prescription with Chekesha Kay Ellis
08/27/20 • 65 min
Chekesha Kay Ellis is a recovery advocate and certified family recovery specialist, and New Jersey state lead for Mobilize Recovery. As she celebrates 10 years sobriety from opioid addiction, an addiction that also robber her of her hearing, she shares her experience of being a high-functioning addict, how she ultimately quit cold turkey, and the cornerstones of her subsequent self-directed recovery.
In this episode we also discuss:
-The commonalities between opioid abuse and alcohol abuse.
-How easy it is for “legal” addictions to fly under the radar.
-Chasing feeling good vs. using to self-medicate pain.
-The role of both genetics and learned behavior when it comes to addiction running in families.
-The physical side-effects of opioids abuse.
-Habitual use of both opioids and alcohol just to feel “normal.”
-The wake-up call that made Chekesha realize she had to quit—and why it took another year for her to get clean.
-What she experienced in her month of going cold turkey—and what got her through.
-What comes after the “pink cloud” moment of early sobriety.
-The lack of access for deaf and disabled people in traditional recovery circles.
-The premature birth of her son—and the challenges of being a deaf first-time mom.
-Overcoming her challenges sober giving her a similar “high” to the drugs.
-Why we have to change the stigma around addiction if we want to make it easier for people to get help.
-How we view addiction and addicts differently through the lens of race.
Follow Chekesha on Instagram @chekeshakay to learn more about her work.
Thank you to podcast season sponsors Lyres—visit lyres.com/sobercurious to claim a special 15% discount code and follow along @lyresspiritco.
Thanks also to Grüvi for partnering on this episode—stock up online at getgruvi.com and use the code SOBERCURIOUS for a one-time 20% discount.
Chekesha Kay Ellis is a recovery advocate and certified family recovery specialist, and New Jersey state lead for Mobilize Recovery. As she celebrates 10 years sobriety from opioid addiction, an addiction that also robber her of her hearing, she shares her experience of being a high-functioning addict, how she ultimately quit cold turkey, and the cornerstones of her subsequent self-directed recovery.
In this episode we also discuss:
-The commonalities between opioid abuse and alcohol abuse.
-How easy it is for “legal” addictions to fly under the radar.
-Chasing feeling good vs. using to self-medicate pain.
-The role of both genetics and learned behavior when it comes to addiction running in families.
-The physical side-effects of opioids abuse.
-Habitual use of both opioids and alcohol just to feel “normal.”
-The wake-up call that made Chekesha realize she had to quit—and why it took another year for her to get clean.
-What she experienced in her month of going cold turkey—and what got her through.
-What comes after the “pink cloud” moment of early sobriety.
-The lack of access for deaf and disabled people in traditional recovery circles.
-The premature birth of her son—and the challenges of being a deaf first-time mom.
-Overcoming her challenges sober giving her a similar “high” to the drugs.
-Why we have to change the stigma around addiction if we want to make it easier for people to get help.
-How we view addiction and addicts differently through the lens of race.
Follow Chekesha on Instagram @chekeshakay to learn more about her work.
Thank you to podcast season sponsors Lyres—visit lyres.com/sobercurious to claim a special 15% discount code and follow along @lyresspiritco.
Thanks also to Grüvi for partnering on this episode—stock up online at getgruvi.com and use the code SOBERCURIOUS for a one-time 20% discount.
Previous Episode
Quitting For The Kids with Clinton Schultz
Clinton Schultz, is an aboriginal psychologist and founder of the aboriginal-run alcohol-free brand, Sobah Beer. Clinton’s work sits at the intersection of sobriety, social justice, and psychology, and he and his wife Lozen created Sobah in part to raise cultural awareness and promote the Aboriginal arts, language and history. As well as his own journey to sobriety – which was sparked by his young son asking him if he would please stop drinking “silly drink” – we discuss why binge drinking and alcoholism are so prevalent in nations with a colonialist past, and how booze is often used to medicate unhealed intergenerational trauma.
Other topics include:
-Drinking to medicate unhealed wounds of his traumatic upbringing.
-Alcohol being a way to conceal a lack of belonging that has pervaded Western society.
-Why binge drinking and alcoholism are so prevalent in nations with a colonialist past—such as the UK, North America, Australia, and South Africa.
-The pain of living with pent-up inter-generational trauma.
-The problem with labels and how you can be a problem drinker without using the term “alcoholic.”
-The need for more access to alternative healing modalities.
-The aboriginal view of holistic wellbeing, and how mindfulness and meditation have their roots within indigenous cultures.
-The difference between aboriginal psychology and Western psychology.
-Quitting drinking as a healing path in and of itself.
-The fact that life will always be stressful—the key is to find ways to manage it that work for us.
-The reasons younger generations are choosing not to drink.
-Clinton’s six “Principals of Law” for healing as individuals and as a society.
Discover more about Clinton and his work HERE and follow @sobahbeverages on Instagram.
Thanks to series sponsors Lyres. Visit lyres.com/sobercurious to get your 15% discount code and follow along @lyresspiritco for recipes and more.
And Grüvi for supporting this episode. Use the code SOBERCURIOUS at getgruvi.com for a one-time 20% discount good through December 2020.
Next Episode
Marijuana and Me with Brandon Alter
Quitting cannabis is rarely if ever addressed in sober circles. Like alcohol, cannabis use is very socially acceptable, but it’s also widely seen as pretty harmless, and is not even considered to be addictive.
All of these factors make it difficult to spot when it’s become a problem – and many habitual smokers may see themselves in this very nuanced conversation with spiritual healer Brandon Alter, where we also discuss the deep healing that can happen when we really choose to show up for ourselves and for life. In this episode we discuss:
-The medicinal properties of weed – and when medicinal use becomes habitual use.
-The intrinsically personal nature of substance use and abuse.
-Weed becoming legal making it easier for people to talk honestly about their experiences with it.
-Reaching for things externally that we are not able to give ourselves on the inside.
-When getting high goes from being an altered state to a person’s “normal.”
-The spiritual energy of weed as plant medicine.
-How, over time, seeking “instant zen” with marijuana atrophies our ambition and ability to take action in our lives.
-Acceptance as an active choice you make.
-Smoking as a way to survive the life he “thought” he wanted.
-Quitting to step more fully onto his path as a spiritual healer.
-The concept of “soul retrieval” as it relates to the process of recovery.
-Working the 12-step program with a sober coach – and the most important part of the process.
Discover more about Brandon and his work HERE and check out his podcast The Spiritual Gayz.
Thanks to season sponsors Lyres - visit Lyres.com/sobercurious to sign up for a special 15% discount code and follow along @lyresspiritco on Instagram.
Thanks also to episode partners Curious Elixirs. Visit curiouselixirs.com and use the code RUBY to get one free bottle with an order over $50.
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