Depression and Alcohol Recovery: Jordan on Sobriety, Healing, and Helping Others

For years, Jordan lived with untreated depression that he hid behind success in sports, social life, and eventually alcohol. Drinking offered temporary relief but quickly spiraled into addiction, hospitalization, and even jail.

After a suicide attempt and years of struggling, Jordan finally embraced treatment, medication, and sobriety. Now three years sober, he uses his lived experience as both a survivor of depression and addiction and a crisis social worker to connect deeply with people in their darkest moments.

In this conversation, Jordan shares how honesty—once seen as weakness—became his greatest strength. By saying the words “I’ve been there,” he gives others the safety and trust they need to believe in the possibility of recovery.

This episode is a powerful story of resilience, transformation, and the healing impact of shared experience.

Primary Topics Covered:

• Jordan’s early experiences of depression as a child and teen
• Why he hid his feelings from family and friends
• How alcohol became a form of self-medication for depression and anxiety
• The destructive cycle of addiction, relapse, and untreated depression
• His suicide attempt and hospitalization as turning points
• The role of AA, medication, and therapy in his recovery
• Why honesty and vulnerability became his “superpowers”
• Using lived experience to connect with others in crisis
• The healing impact of saying “I’ve been where you are”
• How helping others sustains his own sobriety and mental health

Timestamps

00:11 Introduction and episode theme
 01:41 Jordan’s story begins: childhood sadness without a name
 03:23 Why he hid depression from his mother and father
 04:01 The mask of being a strong Black man in high school and college
 04:37 First drink at 17: how alcohol felt like a solution
 05:45 Addiction takes hold—AA, jail, hospitalization
 06:22 Anxiety, hiding in closets, and living in isolation
 07:20 Suicide attempt, hospitalization, and diagnosis of depression
 08:25 Turning point: his mother brings him to detox
 08:50 Committing fully to AA and beginning sobriety
 09:28 Using lived experience as a crisis social worker
 10:31 Why honesty and vulnerability connect deeply in recovery work
 12:10 The possibility of a 180° life turnaround
 13:19 Returning to the same county facility where he was once detained
 14:21 Helping others at their lowest points as his new purpose
 15:38 Reflections on how weakness became strength
 16:31 Closing insights from Terry and Dr. Anita

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