The Rich Roll Podcast

Shame can’t survive the light. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating. If you’ve been on this podcast adventure with me for a while, then you know well that addiction, alcoholism and recovery are recurring themes of the show — subjects very close to my heart as someone whose life has been spared by sobriety. These themes recur because millions of people from every cross section of life suffer in silence. Deeply ashamed and terrified to confront their truth, these lost souls dwell in the shadows. Paralyzed and powerless, addiction strips them of their humanity as they descend into darkness, wandering lost and alone in what author and addiction medicine specialist Gabor Maté (RRP #188) dubs the realm of the hungry ghost. As a culture we perpetuate the cycle of shame by judging those afflicted as weak, even sub-human. This creates a climate of fear and silence, further entrenching a deep sense of self-hatred that drives the addict into a prison of loneliness and despair, isolating that individual from the l