Relapse Prevention Failed: And How WE Can Solve this Crisis Together | Adam Gunton | TEDxBillings

Summary

The speaker recounts his journey from addiction to recovery, marked by a tragic phone call and a near-death experience. He emphasizes the power of personal stories in aiding recovery, highlighting the effectiveness of Alcoholics Anonymous and the importance of community support. The narrative showcases the impact of sharing experiences through modern technology, like social media and books, to inspire hope and change in others facing similar struggles. The speaker urges everyone to embrace their stories as a means to help others overcome their battles.

Takeaways

• 📅 The speaker's journey with addiction began during his freshman year at college, marked by a tragic phone call on September 28th, 2008.
• 🔫 The speaker's best friend, Chuck, committed suicide after a late-night phone call, which deeply affected the speaker.
• 🍻 The speaker's substance abuse escalated, turning from a means of socializing into a coping mechanism for life's challenges.
• 🚨 On November 6th, 2015, the speaker had a near-death experience with a drug overdose, captured on police bodycam footage.
• 🏥 Despite numerous attempts at traditional recovery methods, the speaker continued to struggle with addiction and faced potential imprisonment.
• 🌟 A series of spiritual experiences and the influence of others' recovery stories led to the speaker's own recovery on November 6th, 2017.
• 📚 The speaker published a book about his journey, 'From Chains to Saved,' which has reached thousands and inspired others in recovery.
• 🗣️ The power of sharing personal stories and experiences was emphasized as a crucial element in overcoming addiction.
• 🤝 The speaker advocates for the recovery community to use all available tools, including technology, to spread hope and support to those struggling with addiction.
• 🌐 Social media and digital platforms can significantly amplify the reach of personal recovery stories, potentially impacting millions.
• 💪 The speaker encourages everyone to embrace their past, transform shame into a superpower, and use their stories to help others overcome similar challenges.

Q & A

What significant event occurred on September 28th, 2008 in the speaker's life?

The speaker received a late-night call from his best friend, Chucker, and after hanging up on him, Chucker committed suicide.

How did the speaker's relationship with drugs and alcohol evolve over time?

Initially, drugs and alcohol were a means of partying and fun, but they eventually became a coping mechanism for the speaker's life, leading to a severe addiction.

What was the turning point for the speaker that led to his near-death experience?

The turning point was on November 6th, 2015, when the speaker used a new street drug called 'China White' and overdosed, resulting in a lifeless body found by the police.

What traditional relapse prevention methods did the speaker try without success?

The speaker attended cognitive behavioral therapy classes, outpatient groups, 12-step meetings, church services, and a Bible study, but none of these were effective in helping him stop using drugs.

How did the speaker eventually find recovery?

The speaker found recovery through a series of spiritual experiences, hearing another person's recovery story on YouTube, and with the support of close friends, which led to his sobriety starting on November 6th, 2017.

What is the significance of the speaker's book 'From Chains to Saved'?

The book 'From Chains to Saved' is the speaker's personal journey through addiction and his path to recovery, which has been shared with over 10,000 people worldwide and has helped others find hope and healing.

What impact did the speaker's story have on a man named Israel?

Israel, who was struggling with addiction, was deeply impacted by the speaker's book, which helped him achieve sobriety and continue on a path of positive change.

What is the speaker's approach to helping others in recovery through social media?

The speaker uses social media to share content about addiction and recovery, hosts live video podcasts, personally messages individuals who reach out for help, and provides community support and resources.

How has the speaker's content strategy contributed to helping over 1,000 addicts find recovery?

By sharing his story, personally messaging those who reach out, and providing community support and resources across all 50 states, the speaker has been able to help over 1,000 addicts find recovery.

What is the speaker's perspective on the role of the recovery community in solving the addiction crisis?

The speaker believes that the recovery community needs to reignite its passion, use all available tools, and reach out to those suffering to solve the addiction crisis together.

How does the speaker encourage individuals to embrace their stories and turn shame into a superpower?

The speaker encourages individuals to share their personal stories of struggle and recovery, using those experiences to connect with and help others, thus transforming shame into a source of strength and inspiration.

Outlines

00:00

📞 A Late-Night Call and the Tragic Consequence

The speaker recounts a fateful night in 2008 when, after a night of drinking, he received a call from his best friend Chuck at 4:47 a.m. Instead of his usual cheerful greeting, he answered in a drunken state, which led to a terse conversation. Moments after hanging up, Chuck took his own life. The impact of this event was profound, leading the speaker into a spiral of drug and alcohol abuse as a coping mechanism. This self-destructive behavior continued until a near-fatal overdose in 2015, which was captured on police body camera footage. Despite this near-death experience, the speaker was unable to overcome his addiction, leading to a life of homelessness and continued substance abuse.

05:02

🔄 The Struggle with Addiction and the Path to Recovery

The narrative continues with the speaker's ongoing battle with addiction, highlighting the grim statistics of relapse rates post-treatment for addicts. The speaker discusses his experiences with traditional recovery methods, including therapy, outpatient groups, and 12-step meetings, all of which failed to help him achieve sobriety. It wasn't until a series of spiritual experiences and the influence of a recovery story on YouTube, along with the support of close friends, that the speaker finally found recovery on November 6th, 2017. Since then, he has been clean and sober, and he emphasizes the power of sharing one's story as a means to help others in similar situations.

10:02

🌟 The Power of Personal Stories in Recovery

This paragraph delves into the speaker's journey of using his personal story to inspire and assist others in their recovery. He talks about the effectiveness of sharing experiences and messages of hope, drawing a parallel to the origins of Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935. The speaker shares his own success in reaching out to others through his book 'From Chains to Saved' and coaching others to write and publish their stories. He also discusses the broader impact of social media in creating a supportive community and the importance of personal stories in helping individuals feel less alone in their struggles.

15:02

🤝 Embracing Community and the Superpower of Shared Experiences

The final paragraph focuses on the importance of community and shared experiences in overcoming life's challenges, not just addiction but also other personal struggles such as divorce, financial issues, or health concerns. The speaker encourages embracing one's past and using it as a superpower to help others. He shares his own story of turning his shame into a message of hope and the profound impact it had on individuals like Israel, who credits the speaker's story for his own transformation. The speaker concludes by emphasizing the collective power of the recovery community to make a difference and the potential of each person's story to inspire change.

Keywords

💡Addiction

Addiction is a chronic brain disorder characterized by compulsive engagement in rewarding stimuli, despite adverse consequences. In the video, addiction is the central theme, with the speaker detailing his personal struggle with substance abuse and how it became a solution to life's problems, leading to a life of homelessness and despair.

💡Recovery

Recovery refers to the process of healing or regaining control over one's life after a period of illness or addiction. The speaker's journey to recovery is a pivotal part of the narrative, illustrating his transformation from a life of addiction to one of sobriety and purpose.

💡Relapse

Relapse is the return to substance use after a period of abstinence. The script discusses the high rates of relapse among addicts, emphasizing the challenges of maintaining sobriety and the importance of continuous support and community.

💡Overdose

An overdose occurs when a person consumes a sufficient dose of a substance to produce life-threatening symptoms or death. The speaker recounts a near-death experience due to an overdose, which serves as a turning point in his life and a stark reminder of the dangers of addiction.

💡12-Step Program

A 12-Step Program is a set of guiding principles for recovery from addiction, most notably associated with Alcoholics Anonymous. The speaker mentions attending these programs as part of his recovery process, highlighting their significance in providing structure and community support.

💡Mentor

A mentor is someone who imparts knowledge to and advises another. In the script, the speaker's mentor, provided by the state, plays a crucial role in guiding him through various recovery methods and supporting his journey to sobriety.

💡Community

Community refers to a group of people who share common values or interests and who contribute to each other's well-being. The video emphasizes the power of community in overcoming addiction, with the speaker building and engaging with a supportive network of individuals on their recovery journey.

💡Hope

Hope is a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen. The speaker talks about the importance of hope in the recovery process, using his own story and the stories of others to inspire and motivate those struggling with addiction.

💡Storytelling

Storytelling is the act of conveying events in words, often with a narrative, to engage an audience. The speaker uses his own story and the stories of others to communicate the message of hope and recovery, demonstrating the power of personal narratives in inspiring change.

💡Shame

Shame is a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior. The video discusses the speaker's experience with shame, particularly related to a tragic incident with a friend, and how he later transformed this shame into a catalyst for positive change and advocacy.

💡Support

Support refers to assistance or encouragement given to someone to help them recover or improve. The script highlights the importance of support in the recovery process, both from professional services and from the personal connections and community involvement that the speaker fosters.

Highlights

The speaker recalls the tragic phone call with his best friend Chucker before Chucker's suicide, which led to a period of heavy substance abuse.

The speaker's struggle with addiction escalated to a near-death experience from a drug overdose, captured on police bodycam footage.

Despite attending various therapy sessions and support groups, traditional relapse prevention methods failed to help the speaker achieve sobriety.

The turning point in the speaker's recovery was a series of spiritual experiences and the influence of a recovery story on YouTube.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of sharing personal stories of recovery as a means to inspire hope and change in others.

Statistics from the National Library of Medicine highlight the high relapse rates among addicts post-treatment.

The speaker discusses the historical context of addiction treatment, comparing the effectiveness of community support to traditional medical approaches.

The founding of Alcoholics Anonymous and the impact of sharing stories and hope as a cornerstone for recovery is mentioned.

The speaker's personal recovery journey is detailed, including his efforts to write and publish a book to spread his message of hope.

The power of social media and technology in reaching a wider audience with messages of hope and recovery is explored.

The speaker shares examples of how his story and the stories of others have directly impacted individuals struggling with addiction.

The importance of community and personal stories in overcoming various life challenges, not just addiction, is discussed.

The speaker calls for the recovery community to reignite its passion and use all available tools to reach out to those suffering from addiction.

The potential of sharing stories through modern technology to reach millions and offer hope is highlighted.

The speaker reflects on the personal significance of his TEDx talk and how sharing his story helped him through a difficult personal loss.

The closing message encourages individuals to recognize the power of their own stories to inspire change and offer hope to others.

Transcripts

[Music]

it was September 28th

2008 I'd been out drinking and partying

like most nights of my freshman year at

College when I woke up to my phone

ringing and vibrating down by my

leg I swam through the soft sheets to

find my hard phone with the bright

screen that at 4:47 a.m. and my best

friend chucker was calling

me I remember having the conscious

choice that I could either answer the

phone like I always do with hey what's

up

Chuck or I could answer the way I was

feeling with oh

hello and in my still drunken State I

chose the ladder to which a soft voice

replied hey what's

up why are you calling me this

late I was just calling to say hi don't

call me me the Slate again I hung up on

him and he shot

himself for nearly a decade I was unable

to share that phone call with anyone as

I bottled it down deeper and deeper with

drugs and alcohol drugs and alcohol were

no longer way to party and have fun

drugs and alcohol had become my solution

to life as my disease progressed until

the early morning hours of November 6th

2015 I just left my then girlfriend

house and I was on my way to my hotel

but first I needed to try this new

street drug called China

White I put it in my arm like I always

did and at first I was upset because I

didn't feel anything I thought it was

bunk hey but this is body cam footage

from the Laurel Police Department at the

stop sign of first and first where they

found my lifeless body slumped over the

steering wheel from a f and all overdose

hey and a few months

later I had to watch this video for the

first time in a Yellowstone County

courtroom you would think an event like

this and watching your own dead body on

a TV screen would be enough to make you

stop using

drugs but I couldn't stop in my disease

continued to progress finding myself

homeless 86 from the homeless shelter so

I was super homeless and I was unable to

stop using the very drugs that were

taking everything from

me all the traditional relapse

prevention methods were thrust on me by

my new Mentor given to me by the state

some people called him my probation

[Applause]

officer I went to cognitive behavioral

therapy classes at the halfway house

outpatient groups at the treatment

center and was given three u a week and

on my own without the direction of my

mentor I was was going to 12-step

meetings every day church every Saturday

and Sunday and a Bible study every

Tuesday I even went to the local MMA JY

thinking they might be able to beat

recovery into me but nothing was

working I couldn't pass the uas and it

felt like the world was closing in on me

and I was going to be sent to prison for

5 years because I couldn't get

clean but after a series of spiritual

experiences hearing one man's recovery

Story on YouTube and with the help of a

few close

friends I found recovery on November 6th

2017 and I've been clean and sober

[Applause]

since for the next 10 minutes I'm going

to share with you some facts about a

crisis plaguing the United States along

with a simple idea about how experiences

of Shame can be the solution to others

pain that all starts with one person one

story and one message of

hope I remember in my first 30 days of

recovery I was at a meeting when a

longtime shared looked to your left and

look to your right one or none of you is

going to be here a year from now when he

was finished I announced myself with

enthusiasm looked around the room and

said what if we were the ones that

decided all of us are going to make it

what what if we were the group where we

all decided to stay

clean but the longer was

right I visit that group every year or

so and rarely see anybody I recognize

anymore according to the National

Library of Medicine after leaving

inpatient treatment 40 to 60% of addicts

will relapse within the first 30

days 70% will have relapsed within the

first 90 days and 85% within the first

year and the stats are even worse for

opiate

addicts a study that followed heroin

addicts after they left left treatment

found that 91%

relapsed and 4% died of an overdose

within the first year of leaving

treatment these numbers are close to

what people suffering this disease

experienced pre 1935 when we were often

locked up in insane asylums to keep us

from drinking and drugging because the

leading doctors for the treatment of

alcoholism and drug addiction regarded

the disease as

hopeless but on armis day 1935 a New

York stock broker named Bill Wilson who

had six months sober from alcoholism

went out looking for somebody suffering

in alcoholism to share his story and a

message of Hope with he met with a

proctologist named Dr Bob Smith Dr Bob

got sober and together they founded

Alcoholics Anonymous which has now

helped millions of people obtain and

sobriety and has been the Cornerstone

for hundreds of other 12-step recovery

programs one person one story one

message of

hope these pioneering men and women

would walk into jails hospitals and

institutions searching for someone

suffering from alcoholism to share their

stories with they went from a vicious

cycle of hopelessness and despair to a

virtuous circle of a community of chairs

where they armed themselves together in

those rooms and then they went out and

saved

lives and in the forward to their second

edition of Alcoholics Anonymous printed

in

1955 they reported a 50 to 75% success

rate my recovery started much like those

Pioneers but with a little twist of

current technology and a new idea of

spreading the message of Hope to those

suffering on November 6 2019 for my 2

years clean of sober I published my book

from chains to saved one man's Journey

Through the spiritual realm of addiction

and it's now been in the hands of over

10,000 people around the world exactly

30 days later I was at a conference in

San Diego California when a man I had

never met before came up to me with a

copy of my book and said bro your book

changed my life I have three weeks clean

will you sign it for me this is Israel

and he's still clean to this

[Applause]

day

messages and emails were coming in from

all over the world from people my story

was helping and seeing the reach a book

had I began coaching and training other

people in recovery how to write and

publish

books my first student Britney Priestley

published her book mommy drunkest in

April of 2020 and the district attorney

that prosecuted her four times in her

addiction bought a big box of her books

he now gives out to women he's

Prosecuting in the same situation she

was in another student walked into a

place I was speaking in February of 2021

and decided that day she wanted to be

able to say I am recovered on purpose

and she hasn't used since Crystal

published her book say you love in

October of 2022 and she's now helping

other women in recovery who've been

through childhood sexual trauma and

addiction one person one story one

message of

Hope while doing my coaching programs

and my courses I was using social media

as a place to share content about

addiction and Recovery I did a live

video podcast people could join in on

and always welcome people to reach out

for

help this is Amy and she joined one of

these live episodes early in her

recovery and I shouted her out publicly

letting her know she's loved and part of

this community after the show she sent

me this message letting me know how much

it meant to her so early in her

recovery a couple months later she sent

me this message about some things that

she was dealing with we talked through

it together and we made it through it

together and these are the messages he

sent me when she got her first year of

recovery I want to highlight something

for you the first message she sent in

her first 60 days of recovery said it

feels so much more real and easy knowing

I'm not doing it

alone and just over 10 months later for

her one

year she said sometimes for someone who

doesn't even know you to show you they

care is all we

need with this content strategy

personally messaging every single person

that reached out to me for help and

having fellowship and medical resources

in all 50 states I've been able to help

over 1,000 addicts find

[Applause]

recovery

now I'm not saying you need to write a

book although I encourage those of you

who will I'm not saying you need to

build a Facebook group with thousands of

people in it although I encourage those

of you who will I'm not saying you need

to start a live video podcast for people

suffering to find you although I

encourage those of you who

will I am saying you need to help people

however you feel called to and every

single one of our stories is important

for our community to reach those suff

uing with the message that was meant for

them let me give you an

example my story includes having french

toast with my best friend Brendan at

IHOP when Jesus visited me face to face

kicked my butt in gear to do a 12-step

program and I haven't used

since my story can help a lot of people

but there are many people suffering this

disease who cringe at the thought of

spiritual matters and a lot of people in

recovery who made it without the same

faith I

have I don't have a story of childhood

sexual trauma to help the person masking

their abuse with drugs when they hear

Crystal on a podcast they think wow I'm

not

alone I'm not a veteran with complex

PTSD from active duty but Kimberly is

and she overcame addiction without a

12-step

program and I didn't build a fan base

while touring for a music career based

on a life I no longer live but Cole

did and I don't have kids

to share my story of regaining custody

and happiness in my

recovery but Courtney

does and what if we had a way to reach

people faster than walking into a

hospital reach thousands more people

than an impatient list and we reignited

the fire the pioneers of our community

had with this

device you can shoot a video of your

story that that reaches millions of

people around the

world receive messages from people

looking for a way out of

addiction and build groups of people in

our community from all over the

globe I want to take this to another

level with

you a kff poll done in July of this year

showed that 2third of American adults

have been directly affected by addiction

to drugs or

alcohol that's the case and this

8-second video got over 3 and2 million

views that means over 2 million people

that saw it felt a message of Hope

directly for their

life and if this 25 minute video of my

testimony got over 700,000

views that means about 400,000 people

felt that message directly for their

life the medical community has and

always will have its place within the

treatment of adex and alcoh C holics but

the real solution came from us reaching

each other and we as a recovery

Community need to reignite our fire use

all the tools at our disposal to reach

those suffering and solve the addiction

crisis

together and it's also fun to keep up

with friends you've met along the

way like our friend Israel who started a

new health journey and in March of this

year he posted this progress photo from

this device I commented bro looking

amazing and he replied love you bro it

all started when I read your story it

changed me and I'm still changing for

the

better three and a half years later

after reading my story Israel still

credits it for the start in changing his

life and nearly six years later I still

call Chris whose recovery Story on

YouTube changed my life and credit him

for the part he played and saving

mind one person one story one message of

hope I turned the decade of silence and

shame from the true story of Chuck

suicide into the opening of my talk to

help others and each of you has a story

with the power to do the same we need to

embrace our past embrace our stories and

turn our shame into our

superpower

now I've talked to you at a high level

about the recovery Community but let me

make this a little more personal for

you some of you here are struggling with

a difficult

divorce or maybe the loss of a

business maybe you're addicted to porn

or spending money you don't have on

things you don't

need perhaps it's time to lose that

weight you've said you

would or maybe you recently received a

diagnosis that has brought some fear of

the unknown into your

life any one of these or a thousand

other life challenges are better

overcome in community and the journey

you are going through now that you will

overcome will become your own personal

superpower to help

others now I'm going to continue talking

to everyone in this room but I am going

to focus on the

camera to speak to the person that found

this video by chance at the perfect time

or had it sent to them by someone who

loves

them your story matters and there is

someone out there right now who will

struggle to overcome their battle until

they hear you your story and your

message of

hope this is your moment for

change I want to close with a final

story about the power of purpose and

community in

2019 I put a picture of a Ted xstage on

a vision board dreaming of the day I

would have an idea worth

spreading on December 13th 2022 I

received the email that I was selected

for this

event 5 days later I spoke with my dad

my best friend for his birthday and was

able to share the news with him and a

week later on Christmas day he passed

away looking forward to this moment

envisioning all your faces and thinking

of the person who is going to hear this

message and save millions of lives with

their

story pulled me through that difficult

time and from the bottom of my heart

thank you all for being a part of my

[Applause]

[Music]

community