DeepSummary
The episode features an interview with Hilary Phelps, who discusses her journey with alcoholism and her road to recovery. Despite being an overachiever as a young swimmer, Hilary turned to alcohol at age 14 to cope with feelings of inadequacy and depression. Her drinking escalated over the next 15 years, leading to blackouts and a loss of cognitive ability.
At age 29, Hilary checked herself into rehab, not just to stop drinking but to change the people, places, and things in her life that contributed to her substance use. For years, she kept her recovery quiet due to shame and the influence of a partner who viewed addiction as embarrassing. It wasn't until 15 years of sobriety that Hilary decided to share her story publicly to help others struggling in silence.
Hilary emphasizes the importance of decreasing the stigma around addiction and advocating for better policies and support systems within corporations and institutions. By lending her voice, she hopes to show that recovery is possible and that addiction can affect anyone, regardless of their outward appearance or achievements.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Hilary Phelps struggled with alcoholism for 15 years starting at age 14, despite being a high-achieving swimmer.
- Her drinking led to severe cognitive impairment and a loss of ability to read and comprehend material.
- After getting sober at 29, Hilary kept her recovery a secret for years due to shame and outside influences viewing addiction as embarrassing.
- After 15 years sober, Hilary decided to publicly share her story to help others struggling in silence and combat the stigma around addiction.
- Hilary aims to challenge stereotypes about what addiction looks like and advocate for better addiction policies and support within institutions.
- She emphasizes the importance of diverse voices sharing their recovery stories to resonate with different people.
- Going public with her story is part of Hilary's mission to decrease stigma, change policies, and provide hope that recovery is possible.
- Hilary's experiences highlight the prevalence of addiction among high-achievers and the secrecy often surrounding it.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “I think having as many voices as possible out there talking about it is so powerful because we're going to hear something in everybody's story that's different and it's going to resonate with different people.“ by Hilary Phelps
- “And so if they're feeling shame and they don't know where to turn for help, I don't have the luxury of staying silent anymore at 15 years with a little bit, you know, of a platform.“ by Hilary Phelps
- “My hope is that people will look at addiction and know that it's not the old man living under a bridge, drinking out of the brown paper bag, that it can look different and that's okay.“ by Hilary Phelps
- “The more people that are talking about it and the more more I can lend my voice to that space of decreasing the stigma, the more the stigmas decrease, the more policies will change and the more people we can affect at an institutional level.“ by Hilary Phelps
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Episode Information
The Courage to Change: A Recovery Podcast
Ashley Loeb Blassingame
12/27/23