Boomer in Recovery

Cecil: We grew up in a generation where you didn't talk about your mental health. We just powered through it or worse yet, we drank through it. You kept yourself, you handled your business, and whatever you were feeling, you buried it. And for a lot of us, that worked until it didn't. So the question becomes, what happens when an entire generation was taught to stay quiet? And now, we're finally starting to talk. That's what this podcast is about.

Announcer: Boomer in Recovery. You're listening to Boomer in Recovery, the podcast about mental health and addiction recovery from a boomer's perspective. And here is your host, Cecil.

Cecil: So welcome in. This is Boomer perspective on mental health, addiction, and recovery. And more importantly, this is about finally having the conversations we should have had a long time ago. Now before we go any further, let me tell you who I am and who I'm not. I'm not here as a therapist, and I'm not here as someone with a perfect roadmap. I am here as someone who's lived life, seen some things, been around addiction, mental health struggles, and even recovery. And now, I like to spend my time helping people walk through it too.

Cecil: You know, I've worked in peer support, I do trainings, I see people at all kinds of different stages. People just starting out, people trying to hold it together, and people rebuilding their lives one day at a time. And I'm also coming at this from a boomer perspective. Which means I grew up in a time where you didn't say, "I'm struggling." You said, "I'm fine," even when you weren't. And I'll be honest with you. I said that a lot. A lot in my life. "I'm fine," when things weren't fine. So this isn't going to be a clinical podcast, it's not going to be polished, but what it is going to be, it's going to be real. And that's kind of the point.

Cecil: So let's talk about the reality for a minute. You know, a lot of us were raised with some version of what I just talked about. You don't talk about it, you don't show weakness, and you handle your business. You absolutely handle your business. And on the surface, that sounds strong, that looks strong. But what it really did, what it really taught me how to do was suppress things. Not to process them. So instead of dealing with the stress, I buried it. I'd say we buried it. Instead of talking about pain, we avoided it. And instead of asking for help, we found ways to cope. Not always healthy ways. And I've seen this play out more times than I can count.

Cecil: I remember at one point I was working with someone. You know, they were a good person, a hard worker, and they showed up every day. And on the outside, you'd have thought they had it all together. But underneath, the reason they were there, the reason I was talking to them, there was anxiety, there was pressure, and there were the things they never talked about. And their way of coping? Alcohol, drugs. And not all at once, but in some dramatic moment, but just slowly over time, that drink to take the edge off, then a couple more, and a couple more, and more drugs, and more drugs, and then it became a routine.

Cecil: And the thing is, they didn't think they even had a problem. They thought they were managing. That was their way of managing the stress, the life's problems. And that's how it works sometimes. It doesn't look like a crisis. It looks like control until it isn't. And if you're from my generation, or maybe even not my generation, you've probably seen this too. Or maybe you've lived it. I can think of times in my own life where something wasn't right, but I didn't have the language for it. I didn't call it stress, I didn't call it anxiety, I just thought, this is life.

Cecil: So what do you do? You push through, you stay busy, you distract yourself, and maybe for a while that works. But eventually, like I said, it catches up with you. Because ignoring something doesn't make it go away. It just makes it wait. Wait for another time. So bottom line, we didn't avoid the problem. We just ended up delaying the conversation. And in a lot of cases, that delay cost us. I know it cost me. It cost me my relationships, it cost me my peace of mind, and most of all, it cost me time.

Cecil: Now here's where things start to change. Because whether we like it or we don't, the world is talking about mental health. And I know for some people, that feels uncomfortable. It feels like, why is this everywhere? Why are so many people talking about this so much? But what if we're being honest? The way we handled it before didn't always work. And I say that with respect, because I understand where it came from. The mindset that that mindset, mindset helped people survive. But surviving and actually dealing with something are two different things.

Cecil: I've also seen the other side. I've seen people who finally opened up. I remember someone who came in once, they didn't say much at first. They just kind of sat there, listened, played everything close to the vest. And that went on for a while. And then one day, finally, they spoke. And it wasn't perfect, and it wasn't polished. But you know what it was? It was honest. And you could almost see the shift happen in real time. Not everything fixed, not everything solved, but something had changed. Because they weren't carrying it alone anymore. I've seen what silence does, and I've seen what one honest conversation can change. And that's a big part of why I'm doing this.

Cecil: So let's talk about what this podcast is and what it isn't. It isn't therapy, and it's not about me telling you what to do. And it's definitely not about judging anybody's path. Because if there's one thing I've learned, there's more than one way to get better. What this is, is a real conversation. And we're going to talk about addiction without shame, mental health without pretending, and recovery without one size fits all. So if you're sober, or if you're on a medicated assisted treatment, or if you're somewhere in between, guess what? You belong here.

Cecil: And we're going to talk about the other stuff people don't always say out loud. The frustration, the setbacks, the thoughts you don't want to admit, because that's where the real work happens. So who is this for? It's for people from my generation who were really never ever given permission to talk about this. It's about people in recovery, wherever you're at in that process. And it's also for families, and it's for the younger people trying to understand where all this comes from. Because there's context to how we got here. And sometimes, understanding that helps people heal.

Cecil: So I'll bring it back to where we started. We were taught to stay quiet. We were taught to handle it on our own. And this podcast, it's about breaking that. One conversation at a time. So if this sounds like your story or someone you care about, stick around. Because I'm just getting started. We're just getting started. And if you know someone who needs to hear this, share it with them. Because sometimes one conversation can change more than you think. I appreciate you being here, and we'll talk again soon. Thank you.