107. Erin Khar: A Fifteen Year Battle With Opiate Addiction

Erin Khar is an author and advocate known for her writing on addiction, recovery, mental health, parenting, and relationships. She knows first-hand the challenges of addiction recovery. At just 13, Erin began a 15-year struggle with heroin addiction. 

Her debut memoir, Strung Out, appeared on most anticipated lists from Apple Books, Goodreads, SELF, The Rumpus, and others. She also writes the popular weekly advice column, Ask Erin, and her personal essays have appeared in SELF, Marie Claire, Salon, The Times of London Sunday Magazine, HuffPost, Esquire, Cosmopolitan, and others. Erin has also established herself as a respected voice in the national conversation about the overdose epidemic. 

We talk about...

• How Erin used substances to self-regulate
• The role shame played in Erin’s drug use
• What it feels like to be high
• What made the biggest difference for Erin when she stopped using drugs
• How self-hatred gave Erin the illusion of control
• Why Erin thinks it’s so hard for people to stop using drugs
• The problem with how we are handling the opioid crisis
• What Erin feels every parent should do with their teenager
• Why criminalizing drugs costs more in the long run

 

Episode goodies... 

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