How Alcohol Addiction Hijacks The Mind And How Recovery Starts

Send us Fan MailA lot of people hear stories about alcoholism and still think, “If it’s destroying your life, why not just stop?” We get it. That question makes perfect sense until you’re the one waking up more sober than you fell asleep and feeling your whole brain scream for the one thing you promised you wouldn’t touch again.We’re joined by Suzanna, who shares what it’s like to have alcohol as your drug of choice when it’s everywhere, normalized, and easy to hide until it isn’t. She walks us through blacking out the first time she drank at 14, the college years where drinking felt like the default, and the breakup that helped trigger a spiral into 9 A.M. drinking. We talk about alcohol withdrawal, the fear of sobering up, and the relentless mental bargaining that keeps people trapped even after alcohol poisoning, job loss, and family intervention.We also dig into recovery in a real-world way: why it can feel impossible to connect in therapy when the clinician doesn’t understand relapse from the inside, why AA and recovery community can matter, and how “nothing bad happened” after one controlled drink can be the worst setup for the next crash. Susanna opens up about repeated detox cycles and what finally changed on her sixth inpatient treatment stay, including a moment with a nurse she calls “Twilight” who looks at her labs and connects with her without shame.If you love someone with substance use disorder, or you’re quietly wondering about your own drinking, this conversation offers clarity, language, and hope. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review to help more people find recovery stories like this one. What part of Susanna’s story did you recognize most?Support the showThank you for joining me today on the Relationship Blueprint. Remember,  don't let life happen to you. You can be the architect of your relationships. So join me next time on the Relationship Blueprint; Unlock Your Power of Connection.Contact Colleen at [email protected] for questions or to be a guest on the show!