 Tricia Payness just uploaded a video talking about how she is coming up on one month sober. But is she really? What is up everybody? This is Chris from the Rewired Soul where we talk about the problem, but focus on the solution. And if you're new to my channel, what I like to do is take a look at what's going on in the YouTube community or pop culture and try to see what lessons we can learn from them. But some other things that I'm very passionate about are mental health as well as addiction recovery. If you're into that stuff, make sure you subscribe and ring that notification bell. And by the way, if you did not get the memo, I am currently working on my new book, Rewire Your Anxiety. Alright, so make sure you're following me over on Instagram and Twitter because I just put up this post over on Instagram, I also sent a tweet out and I'm trying to get feedback from all of you of what topics that you want to cover. So if I pick your topic, you will get a free copy of the book when it comes out in a couple weeks. Alright, so make sure you're following me over on Instagram and Twitter at the Rewired Soul. Alright, so anyways, before I get started, I just want to address a couple things. Okay, so the purpose of this video is to discuss addiction, to discuss recovery for anybody out there who might be struggling with addiction if you're in active addiction or if you're in early recovery. But more importantly is to educate other people because on average, one out of every 12 people is struggling with a drug addiction or alcohol addiction. Alright, so that means if you know 12 people, you know at least one who is an addict or alcoholic and the problem is, is by people not being educated about addiction, you might have somebody relapsing right in front of your eyes and not even realize it. And that's what we're going to be talking about with Trisha Paytas. So this video isn't to knock Trisha Paytas or anything like that. If you see this video, Trisha, I hope the best for you. Alright, but the other thing that kind of bothers me is Trisha has such a huge platform, right? And when we are putting this opportunity to inspire other people, when we have people who look up to us, like we have a responsibility. So while I see there are people who are like, oh, Trisha got clean and sober. Maybe I can get clean and sober too. But seeing the behavior that doesn't match up with it, that could be confusing. It can lead to other people relapsing. So that is one of the reasons why I'm making this video. It's purely to educate based on my experience, alright? So anyways, Trisha just posted a video and she said this. What's up, everybody? Hi, there's a ton of Dusty's flying around because I'm literally wearing a carpet as a shawl today. So yeah, there's a lot of little Dusty's flying around and it's kind of like making me a little like hallucinogenic. Hi, everybody. What's up? Yes, I have been a month sober in two days by the end. Oh, I don't know when you see this, but maybe by the end of the year I've been a month sober. But in two days I have been, no, four days, I have been a month sober. So you'll probably see this a couple of days later. So yeah, that's been pretty crazy. And I would prove, I feel, I feel pretty good. But the problem with that is somebody actually sent me a DM on Twitter and they brought up the fact that this is what Trisha posted on her Instagram story. Oh my God, you guys, please. She's muck banging. You're muck banging. We're gonna muck bang this out. This is crazy. Like, who are we? Zoe's so skinny, always eating. I was the devil today. I know. I know. I said Cheesecake Factory. I know. And I was like, OK. In the bay. In the bay. OK, so we had the end of the day in this cauliflower. They also brought us our shrimp because I was like, might as well have all of that. Give it all. I give it all. Bring the menu, OK? Yeah, she's, my accent is out. She was going to go to Cheesecake Factory and I was like, Zoe, I'm on a diet. I just wanted to be prettier. She is. The eyelash is the extension. I was like, thanks a lot. But I don't want my money to buy. I know we're going on a date tonight. I'm like, obviously, the Bush one in this relationship. It's OK. Everyone's looking at my girl too. Everyone would be like, and she flirts with them. She's like, hey. Too much food. So those of you who aren't caught up to date with what's been going on with Trisha Payness, like, I am very proud of her for just the ability. Like, anybody who opens up about their mental health and everything like that, like, it's huge. It's huge. And I appreciate it for that. All right? But like, what's been going on the last couple of months is she talked about how she went to a psych ward, how she's been struggling with an addiction to pain pills. She talks about how she was drinking to help with opioid withdrawal. She also talked about how she tried meth a few times. All right? So there's all these different substances that she was messing around with. OK? And one of the videos that she came out with was talking about her opioid withdrawal. So now she's talking about how she's been sober for almost a month, but she's drinking. And this is something very, very, very important that we need to talk about. So those of you who haven't met me yet, hi, I'm Chris. I'm an addict and alcoholic. And in, I don't know, a week or so, I will be celebrating seven years sober on June 23. So my substance is a choice. Started with alcohol, got into prescription pain pills. But I did every substance under the sun. Cocaine, everything. All right? And here's the thing, is that for addicts like me, when you're an addict, OK, we try everything we can to swap substances, OK? So I tried alcohol, and then I switched to pills. And then the pills started taking over the control of my life. So then I went from pills back to alcohol and everything like that. But the problem was, the problem was that I wasn't addict and alcoholic, OK? And here's what separates addicts and alcoholics from the average person. We do not have a stop button. Once we start, we cannot stop, no matter what the mind-altering substance is. And here's the thing. Not only have I been sober for seven years, but I also worked in addiction treatment for a little over three years. I have literally worked with thousands of addicts. And if I had a nickel, if I had a nickel for every single drug addict who came in and left and thought they could play around with alcohol, and then they came back because it led them right back to the drugs, or they became an alcoholic, like I would be rich. Nickel, by nickel, I would be rich. And listen, if you don't believe me, let's do an experiment down below, OK? For all of my fellow addicts and alcoholics in recovery who are watching this, let me know down in the comments below. Are you somebody who has struggled with drug addiction and at some point you thought that you could still drink alcohol safely and it led to a relapse? Let me know down in the comments below because this isn't just my experience. This isn't an experience that so, so, so, so many people have. I've seen this happen countless times, OK? I've seen people come into treatment for a pill addiction, come back for alcohol. People who came in for a meth addiction came back for alcohol. People who came in for a heroin addiction came back for alcohol, all right? Because here's the thing, like once we start drinking or using anything, we want more, OK? They have done plenty of scientific studies that shows our brain reacts differently to these substances. So when I see somebody like Tricia Paytas who's playing with fire in this aspect, like it really bothers me because she knows better. She knows better, all right? Like, I've seen her talk about in videos how she knows about 12-step programs, how she goes to therapy. And no therapist in their right mind who has a client who is struggling with addiction would ever tell them that it's OK to drink alcohol, all right? But again, I want to direct a lot of this video towards the loved ones, the friends, the family members. Like, I relapsed many times, OK? And I love my son's mom. Her and I have an amazing, amazing relationship today. But while we were together, I had multiple relapses. And part of it, it was not her fault. It was not her fault in any way, shape, or form. But like myself, she didn't understand the disease of addiction. And when I was getting off of pills, I would start to manipulate and sweet talk her a little bit. But I can have a few drinks, you know what I mean? Like, my problems with pills, I can have some drinks. And she'd be like, I guess that's OK, right? So like I said, I was relapsing right in front of her eyes because it didn't take long for me to go back to my primary drug of choice, all right? And for those of you who don't know, when you mix pills with alcohol, it is a very, very dangerous combination. So when I see somebody like Tricia Paytas who is out with her friend and she's drinking, like, here's the thing. When we put it out there publicly, when we put it out there publicly that we are an addict trying to stay clean and sober, right? Like, it is a form of accountability, OK? Like, people know. They should know. So there should be a question that comes up. If you have a friend who you know is trying to stay sober and then they order a drink or something, like, you need to question that. You need to talk to them about it, OK? Because we are some manipulative SOBs. And we'll say, ah, no, we can do this, right? But it doesn't take long for us to spiral out of control again, all right? Just to get into the semantics of it with you all, like, I'm sure in Tricia's mind, what she is saying when she is saying she is sober is that she has not done pills in X amount of time, but she's still drinking. So that is probably her version of what is sober. Some people, when you dig into the weeds of it, they'll say, oh, well, she's clean, but she's not sober. But the reality is, sorry for laughing, because this is a direct quote from Tricia Payness, is an addict is an addict, all right? And that is something that I have to remember on a daily basis. Like, you guys, seven years ago, well, actually eight years ago, because my last relapse took me out for a little over a year, my last relapse started with one Vicodin pill, just one five milligram Vicodin pill, I've shared this in plenty of other videos, okay? Like, that is how it started. And it led me down this terrible path where it almost killed me. Seven years ago, I had a 10% chance of living, all right? I wanted to die and my family thought I was going to die. So when it comes to addiction, like, I don't play around with this stuff. So like I said, I hope the best for Tricia Payness on her recovery journey, all right? But for anybody else out there who is watching this, like know the dangers of thinking that you can switch from one substance to another, all right? Like, I cannot tell you the freedom, the freedom that I experienced because of my recovery, all right? I no longer have to drink to have fun. I no longer have to drink or use to suppress my feelings, to numb myself or anything like that. And real quick, like that's what kind of bothers me too because that clip I showed you from Tricia Payness, like it's another video she has talking about what she's learned in therapy and everything like that. And here's the thing, like we need to learn these coping skills from therapy or from 12-step programs so we don't have to turn to drugs or alcohol anymore. Like we need to get down to the root of the problem. Like why do we feel we have to turn to these substances in order to have fun or to deal with life, all right? So, anyways, again, let me know down in the comments below if this is something that you've experienced in the past, are you a drug addict who tried alcohol and liked to relapse? Let me know down in the comments below. And don't forget, follow me over on Instagram and Twitter at the Rewired Soul because I'm currently writing Rewire Your Angstydy. So I'm trying to get all of you to give me input and you can win yourself a free copy of the book. All right, but anyways, that's all I got for this video. If you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up. If you're new, make sure you subscribe and ring that notification bell because I make a ton of videos. And a huge, huge thank you to everybody supporting the channel over on Patreon. You are all amazing. And if you want to get some free copies of all my books, sign up for Patreon. Click or tap on that link right there, all right? Thanks again so, so much for watching. I'll see you next time.