Relapse Prevention Failed: And How WE Can Solve this Crisis Together | Adam Gunton | TEDxBillings

[Music] it was September 28th 2008 I'd been out drinking and partying like most nights of my freshman year at College when I woke up to my phone ringing and vibrating down by my leg I swam through the soft sheets to find my hard phone with the bright screen that at 4:47 a.m. and my best friend chucker was calling me I remember having the conscious choice that I could either answer the phone like I always do with hey what's up Chuck or I could answer the way I was feeling with oh hello and in my still

drunken State I chose the ladder to which a soft voice replied hey what's up why are you calling me this late I was just calling to say hi don't call me me the Slate again I hung up on him and he shot himself for nearly a decade I was unable to share that phone call with anyone as I bottled it down deeper and deeper with drugs and alcohol drugs and alcohol were no longer way to party and have fun drugs and alcohol had become my solution to life as my disease progressed until the early morning

hours of November 6th 2015 I just left my then girlfriend house and I was on my way to my hotel but first I needed to try this new street drug called China White I put it in my arm like I always did and at first I was upset because I didn't feel anything I thought it was bunk hey but this is body cam footage from the Laurel Police Department at the stop sign of first and first where they found my lifeless body slumped over the steering wheel from a f and all overdose hey and a

few months later I had to watch this video for the first time in a Yellowstone County courtroom you would think an event like this and watching your own dead body on a TV screen would be enough to make you stop using drugs but I couldn't stop in my disease continued to progress finding myself homeless 86 from the homeless shelter so I was super homeless and I was unable to stop using the very drugs that were taking everything from me all the traditional relapse prevention methods were thrust on me by my new Mentor given to me

by the state some people called him my probation [Applause] officer I went to cognitive behavioral therapy classes at the halfway house outpatient groups at the treatment center and was given three u a week and on my own without the direction of my mentor I was was going to 12-step meetings every day church every Saturday and Sunday and a Bible study every Tuesday I even went to the local MMA JY thinking they might be able to beat recovery into me but nothing was working I couldn't pass the uas and it felt like the world was closing

in on me and I was going to be sent to prison for 5 years because I couldn't get clean but after a series of spiritual experiences hearing one man's recovery Story on YouTube and with the help of a few close friends I found recovery on November 6th 2017 and I've been clean and sober [Applause] since for the next 10 minutes I'm going to share with you some facts about a crisis plaguing the United States along with a simple idea about how experiences of Shame can be the solution to others pain that all starts with one

person one story and one message of hope I remember in my first 30 days of recovery I was at a meeting when a longtime shared looked to your left and look to your right one or none of you is going to be here a year from now when he was finished I announced myself with enthusiasm looked around the room and said what if we were the ones that decided all of us are going to make it what what if we were the group where we all decided to stay clean but the longer was right I

visit that group every year or so and rarely see anybody I recognize anymore according to the National Library of Medicine after leaving inpatient treatment 40 to 60% of addicts will relapse within the first 30 days 70% will have relapsed within the first 90 days and 85% within the first year and the stats are even worse for opiate addicts a study that followed heroin addicts after they left left treatment found that 91% relapsed and 4% died of an overdose within the first year of leaving treatment these numbers are close to what people suffering this disease experienced

pre 1935 when we were often locked up in insane asylums to keep us from drinking and drugging because the leading doctors for the treatment of alcoholism and drug addiction regarded the disease as hopeless but on armis day 1935 a New York stock broker named Bill Wilson who had six months sober from alcoholism went out looking for somebody suffering in alcoholism to share his story and a message of Hope with he met with a proctologist named Dr Bob Smith Dr Bob got sober and together they founded Alcoholics Anonymous which has now helped millions of people obtain

and sobriety and has been the Cornerstone for hundreds of other 12-step recovery programs one person one story one message of hope these pioneering men and women would walk into jails hospitals and institutions searching for someone suffering from alcoholism to share their stories with they went from a vicious cycle of hopelessness and despair to a virtuous circle of a community of chairs where they armed themselves together in those rooms and then they went out and saved lives and in the forward to their second edition of Alcoholics Anonymous printed in 1955 they reported a 50 to 75%

success rate my recovery started much like those Pioneers but with a little twist of current technology and a new idea of spreading the message of Hope to those suffering on November 6 2019 for my 2 years clean of sober I published my book from chains to saved one man's Journey Through the spiritual realm of addiction and it's now been in the hands of over 10,000 people around the world exactly 30 days later I was at a conference in San Diego California when a man I had never met before came up to me with a copy

of my book and said bro your book changed my life I have three weeks clean will you sign it for me this is Israel and he's still clean to this [Applause] day messages and emails were coming in from all over the world from people my story was helping and seeing the reach a book had I began coaching and training other people in recovery how to write and publish books my first student Britney Priestley published her book mommy drunkest in April of 2020 and the district attorney that prosecuted her four times in her addiction bought a

big box of her books he now gives out to women he's Prosecuting in the same situation she was in another student walked into a place I was speaking in February of 2021 and decided that day she wanted to be able to say I am recovered on purpose and she hasn't used since Crystal published her book say you love in October of 2022 and she's now helping other women in recovery who've been through childhood sexual trauma and addiction one person one story one message of Hope while doing my coaching programs and my courses I was using

social media as a place to share content about addiction and Recovery I did a live video podcast people could join in on and always welcome people to reach out for help this is Amy and she joined one of these live episodes early in her recovery and I shouted her out publicly letting her know she's loved and part of this community after the show she sent me this message letting me know how much it meant to her so early in her recovery a couple months later she sent me this message about some things that she was

dealing with we talked through it together and we made it through it together and these are the messages he sent me when she got her first year of recovery I want to highlight something for you the first message she sent in her first 60 days of recovery said it feels so much more real and easy knowing I'm not doing it alone and just over 10 months later for her one year she said sometimes for someone who doesn't even know you to show you they care is all we need with this content strategy personally messaging every

single person that reached out to me for help and having fellowship and medical resources in all 50 states I've been able to help over 1,000 addicts find [Applause] recovery now I'm not saying you need to write a book although I encourage those of you who will I'm not saying you need to build a Facebook group with thousands of people in it although I encourage those of you who will I'm not saying you need to start a live video podcast for people suffering to find you although I encourage those of you who will I am saying

you need to help people however you feel called to and every single one of our stories is important for our community to reach those suff uing with the message that was meant for them let me give you an example my story includes having french toast with my best friend Brendan at IHOP when Jesus visited me face to face kicked my butt in gear to do a 12-step program and I haven't used since my story can help a lot of people but there are many people suffering this disease who cringe at the thought of spiritual matters

and a lot of people in recovery who made it without the same faith I have I don't have a story of childhood sexual trauma to help the person masking their abuse with drugs when they hear Crystal on a podcast they think wow I'm not alone I'm not a veteran with complex PTSD from active duty but Kimberly is and she overcame addiction without a 12-step program and I didn't build a fan base while touring for a music career based on a life I no longer live but Cole did and I don't have kids to share my

story of regaining custody and happiness in my recovery but Courtney does and what if we had a way to reach people faster than walking into a hospital reach thousands more people than an impatient list and we reignited the fire the pioneers of our community had with this device you can shoot a video of your story that that reaches millions of people around the world receive messages from people looking for a way out of addiction and build groups of people in our community from all over the globe I want to take this to another level with

you a kff poll done in July of this year showed that 2third of American adults have been directly affected by addiction to drugs or alcohol that's the case and this 8-second video got over 3 and2 million views that means over 2 million people that saw it felt a message of Hope directly for their life and if this 25 minute video of my testimony got over 700,000 views that means about 400,000 people felt that message directly for their life the medical community has and always will have its place within the treatment of adex and alcoh C

holics but the real solution came from us reaching each other and we as a recovery Community need to reignite our fire use all the tools at our disposal to reach those suffering and solve the addiction crisis together and it's also fun to keep up with friends you've met along the way like our friend Israel who started a new health journey and in March of this year he posted this progress photo from this device I commented bro looking amazing and he replied love you bro it all started when I read your story it changed me and

I'm still changing for the better three and a half years later after reading my story Israel still credits it for the start in changing his life and nearly six years later I still call Chris whose recovery Story on YouTube changed my life and credit him for the part he played and saving mind one person one story one message of hope I turned the decade of silence and shame from the true story of Chuck suicide into the opening of my talk to help others and each of you has a story with the power to do the

same we need to embrace our past embrace our stories and turn our shame into our superpower now I've talked to you at a high level about the recovery Community but let me make this a little more personal for you some of you here are struggling with a difficult divorce or maybe the loss of a business maybe you're addicted to porn or spending money you don't have on things you don't need perhaps it's time to lose that weight you've said you would or maybe you recently received a diagnosis that has brought some fear of the unknown

into your life any one of these or a thousand other life challenges are better overcome in community and the journey you are going through now that you will overcome will become your own personal superpower to help others now I'm going to continue talking to everyone in this room but I am going to focus on the camera to speak to the person that found this video by chance at the perfect time or had it sent to them by someone who loves them your story matters and there is someone out there right now who will struggle to

overcome their battle until they hear you your story and your message of hope this is your moment for change I want to close with a final story about the power of purpose and community in 2019 I put a picture of a Ted xstage on a vision board dreaming of the day I would have an idea worth spreading on December 13th 2022 I received the email that I was selected for this event 5 days later I spoke with my dad my best friend for his birthday and was able to share the news with him and a

week later on Christmas day he passed away looking forward to this moment envisioning all your faces and thinking of the person who is going to hear this message and save millions of lives with their story pulled me through that difficult time and from the bottom of my heart thank you all for being a part of my [Applause] [Music] community