When does it stop being a party and start becoming a problem? Is there a way to steer clear of addiction?
Every Wednesday, Mike McGowan explores substance use disorders with expert guests.
Episodes
Maybe You Can Go Home Again
Zach spent a long time making poor decisions in Seattle, compounding problems that began at age thirteen with a doctor’s prescription for opiates. Homeless in Seattle and using the strongest street opiates he could find, hoping he wouldn’t wake up, he eventually ended up in recovery and alive. Zach updates his story telling us about his trip back to Seattle for the first time since he stopped using drugs and began recovery. Recovery is possible. If you or a loved one needs help, it is available. To contact the Hope Council on Alcohol & Other Drug Abuse, call 262-658-8166, or explore their website at https://www.hopecouncil.org. You can also find AA meetings here: https://mtg.area75.org/meetings.html?dist=7 and NA meetings here: https://namilwaukee.org/meetings/
No. You Don’t Drive Better Stoned
Veronica King finishes our discussion about people cited for Operating While Impaired. The push for decriminalization and legalization of marijuana has resulted in a significant increase in automobile accidents and fatalities involving cannabis. Countering the often-repeated myths about substances and breaking through the denial is just part of the task all substance abuse counselors have to overcome to help clients. Veronica does so as a Social Worker and Clinical Substance Abuse Counselor who instructs Group Dynamics classes at Gateway Technical College for those who have been convicted of Operating While Impaired (also known as Driving Under the Influence). Veronica holds a Master’s of Science degree from Chicago State University, is a Doctoral candidate, and is the President of the Kenosha NAACP. If you need help for your substance abuse issues, help is available. To contact the Hope Council on Alcohol & Other Drug Abuse, call 262-658-8166 or explore their website at https://www.hopecouncil.org. You can also find AA meetings here: https://mtg.area75.org/meetings.html?dist=7 and NA meetings here: https://sefa-na.org/meetings
Flashing Red Lights in the Rear View Mirror
Good fortune or bad luck? When someone is cited for Operating While Impaired, how they view the arrest depends on their perspective. Veronica King discusses facilitating the Group Dynamics class for first-time offenders. Veronica is a Social Worker and Clinical Substance Abuse Counselor who instructs Group Dynamics classes at Gateway Technical College for those who have been convicted of Operating While Impaired (also known as Driving Under the Influence). Veronica holds a Master’s of Science degree from Chicago State University, is a Doctoral candidate, and is the President of the Kenosha NAACP. If you need help for your substance abuse issues, help is available. To contact the Hope Council on Alcohol & Other Drug Abuse, call 262-658-8166, or explore their website at https://www.hopecouncil.org. You can also find AA meetings here: https://mtg.area75.org/meetings.html?dist=7 and NA meetings here: https://sefa-na.org/meetings
You Think They’d Do More
A returning panel of college women, Grace, Aiden, Viv, Jackie, and Haley, discuss navigating through their first two years of college with a mix of pandemic, alcohol, other drug use, and mental health issues, on top of the academic expectations. As mental health concerns and drug use have risen across the country with young people, getting help for those issues is more challenging, they believe, than it needs to be. Every college has a student health center and access to counseling, and if the assistance you receive is not adequate, please keep asking and looking. In Kenosha, if you or a loved one needs help, it is available. To contact the Hope Council on Alcohol & Other Drug Abuse, call 262-658-8166, or explore their website at https://www.hopecouncil.org. You can also find AA meetings here: https://mtg.area75.org/meetings.html?dist=7 and NA meetings here: https://sefa-na.org/meetings
Seven Days a Week to Make a Difference
Diane Yager, a teacher, hall of fame coach, and mentor in Seneca, Wisconsin, coordinates one of the longest-running school wellness programs in the country. By focusing on mental health and alcohol and other drug prevention, the goal is to empower the students in her small rural school district to make good decisions. By utilizing generations of students in leadership roles, Diane created an infrastructure that serves as a model for what schools can do to address serious mental health and substance use issues in a caring, supportive environment. As a teacher, coach, and mentor, Diane inspired her students to live their best lives and to help others along the way. If you or a loved one needs help, it is available. To contact the Hope Council on Alcohol & Other Drug Abuse, call 262-658-8166, or explore their website at https://www.hopecouncil.org. You can also find AA meetings here: https://mtg.area75.org/meetings.html?dist=7 and NA meetings here: https://sefa-na.org/meetings
Saving Lives
When the worst happens and a loved one is unconscious, not breathing, overdosed, and close to death, the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) team responds. Nick Eschmann discusses the role of EMS in the ongoing health crisis caused by substance abuse. Nick is the Division Chief of Emergency Medical Services for the Kenosha (Wisconsin) Fire Department. He is passionately committed to giving people one more chance at life. Emergency Medical Services in Kenosha can be contacted at https://www.kenosha.org/departments/fire-department/divisions/emergency-medical-services. If you need help with your substance misuse or that of a loved one, help is available. As Nick says, “No one needs to die from this disease.” To contact the Hope Council on Alcohol & Other Drug Abuse, call 262-658-8166, or explore their website at https://www.hopecouncil.org.
Making Your Own Music
In a time when many people seem to acquire their self worth through social media followers and likes, Vanessa McGowan talks about letting our priorities guide our choices and decisions as we cope with life’s challenges. Vanessa is a New Zealand-born musician, writer, and entrepreneur based in Nashville, Tennessee, and Door County, Wisconsin. Vanessa’s “Musician’s Hierarchy of Needs” has implications for those in recovery as well as for those just trying to live their best lives. Vanessa’s contact information, her blog, her writings, and her music can be accessed at https://vanessamcgowan.com
Heritage
Raised just outside Frankfurt, Germany, Stella Terner was allowed to sample alcohol from a young age by dipping her finger in her parent’s beer and wine. She could buy beer at sixteen. The norm during her teenage years was to not drink to excess but to have a glass of wine with dinner. Now at the University of Mannheim, the same cultural norms are in place: no drinking to get drunk, no drinking just to drink. Stella compares the culture of alcohol consumption she grew up with with her observations as a foreign exchange student in the United States and the American drinking culture. Other countries and cultures address alcohol and other drug usage differently than in the US. What a culture allows is often what happens. If you or a loved one has a substance use disorder, help is available. Locally, resources can be found at 211 Wisconsin: https://211wisconsin.communityos.org. You can also find AA meetings here: https://mtg.area75.org/meetings.html?dist=7 and NA meetings here: https://namilwaukee.org/meetings/
Deja Brew
What would our country be like if average Americans drank three times as much alcohol as they do today? We don’t have to imagine; that’s the way it used to be. Travis Spangenburg discusses the rise of the Temperance movement in our country and the many parallels to the issues in our culture today. Travis is the Creative and Production Manager at the American Prohibition Museum in Savannah, Georgia. He talks about the role heavy alcohol consumption played in the lives of average Americans and the adverse effects on families, health, and, especially, women and children. Information about the American Prohibition Museum can be found at https://www.americanprohibitionmuseum.com
The Changing Face of Addiction Treatment
There isn’t just one way to treat opioid dependency. Dr. Selahattin Kurter discusses harm reduction, medication for addiction treatment, and his clinic’s work with clients with substance use disorders. The key to success is treating all of the issues concurrently and using all of the tools available. Selahattin Kurter, MD, is the Executive Director of West Grove Clinic. Dr. Kurter is one of Milwaukee’s leading experts in the field of Addiction Medicine. He carries a dual board certification in Addiction Medicine as well as Psychiatry and Neurology and has extensive experience working with clients with substance use issues. He and the West Grove Clinic can be reached at https://www.westgroveclinic.com. If you need help with your substance misuse or that of a loved one, help is available. To contact the Hope Council on Alcohol & Other Drug Abuse, call 262-658-8166, or explore their website at https://www.hopecouncil.org.
