130: When You’re Struggling With Substance Abuse + Addiction - Erin Bahadur

When Erin Bahadur was arrested, kicked out of pharmacology school, and was broke, she had hit rock bottom. It was only then that she started looking for recovery options to break her addiction with opiates and alcohol, and went to rehab and narcotics anonymous to start to rebuild her life.

Flash forward 11 years, she’s a mental health and addiction/recovery advocate, has 2 beautiful kids, and has been sober for 11 years. She has a lot of wisdom and advice to share about addiction, depression, anxiety, OCD, recovery, motherhood, and so much more--including how substance abuse and addiction can lead to/is linked to disordered eating and difficult relationships with food. Even if you’re not struggling with addiction, this episode speaks to the beautiful messiness that is inherent in the human experience; and how to be more gentle and compassionate with yourself.

Tune into episode #130:

In this episode, Erin and I chat about:

What Erin’s life was like when she started drinking + getting introduced to drugs
Erin’s career path to be a pharmacologist that ended due to her substance abuse
What happened that made Erin realize she needed to get help and had a problem
What kept Erin going through the early days of recovery
Why Erin kept her addiction a secret from family + friends - and why people don’t always “look like” addicts or alcoholics
The interesting relationship our society and culture has with alcohol
How to check in with yourself to see if something is serving you or holding you back from something
The steps Erin took on her way to recovery
How Erin plans to talk to her kids about addiction and mental health
Erin’s struggles with depression, anxiety, and OCD - particularly postpartum
The connection between addiction and eating disorders
How substance abuse can lead to other “addictions” - overexercising, overworking, emotional eating, eating disorders, etc. - and how to unpack that
Advice for anyone struggling with addiction or substance abuse