School of Rock Bottom

What does it really mean to call yourself an alcoholic? Why is that word still so difficult to say out loud? In this next quick thought, I revist a conversation with Mary-Kate Harrington as we explore whether embracing the word "alcoholic" can actually reduce shame, break denial and help normalise conversations around addiction and recovery. We discuss stigma, identity, sobriety and why the language we use around alcohol addiction matters more than ever.
For many people, the word "alcoholic" still conjures outdated stereotypes of what addiction looks like. But alcoholism doesn't discriminate. It affects people from every walk of life, regardless of age, profession or background.
In this honest conversation, we talk about the freedom that can come from naming our struggles, why shame loses its power when we speak openly and whether moving away from words like "alcoholic" could unintentionally reinforce stigma. We also discuss sobriety, recovery, dating while sober, social situations and why open conversations about addiction may help younger generations recognise that they are not alone.
This episode isn't about telling people what label they should use. If the word alcoholic is not for you that is totally fine. It's about exploring identity, honesty and the importance of finding language that supports recovery while keeping difficult conversations visible.
A reminder that everyone is free to use the language that best safeguards and empowers their recovery.
Listen or watch THE FULL EPISODE
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About the “THOUGHT” series -
Every other Monday at 5 PM, I’ll bring you a quick ‘thought’—a powerful moment from previous episodes designed to kickstart your week with insight, motivation, and connection. These shorter clips help us stay connected as a community, while every other Tuesday delivers a full, brand-new episode with fresh stories and lessons.
Oliver is an ambassador for Alcohol Change UK and you can access support here - https://tinyurl.com/5dt5773e
Podcasting is an expensive passion. To help me keep going, I'd really appreciate it if you could buy me a coffee, thank you!
https://buymeacoffee.com/olivermason1
Or via PayPal - https://www.paypal.me/olivermason1paypal
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#AlcoholRecovery
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"I was smuggling drugs inside my body. I was passing out most nights. I hated my life."
Eight years ago, Tash Peacock was a mum of two battling alcohol, cocaine and speed addiction. She was depressed, anxious, isolated and trapped in a cycle she couldn't escape. Addiction had taken her further than she ever imagined, leading her to take huge risks just to keep going. Then one morning, after a three-day binge, she found her two-year-old daughter playing in the same room where drugs had been taken just hours before.
That moment cut through the denial and planted a seed.
Tash opens up about the reality of addiction, relapse and recovery. We talk about getting drunk for the first time at 13 and ending up in hospital, being arrested as a teenager, using amphetamine-based slimming tablets, seeking chaos and excitement, and why she believes undiagnosed ADHD played a huge role in her addiction.
We also explore why some people can have one drink and stop while others can't, whether addiction is a choice, why recovery can feel like grief, and why the life she once thought would be boring became the best thing that ever happened to her.
This isn't just a conversation about addiction. It's a conversation about self-hatred, identity, hope and what happens when you finally decide you don't want to live like this anymore.
Tash talks about sobriety with a joy that is genuinely infectious. You'll leave this conversation feeling lighter, more hopeful and with a reminder that even the most chaotic lives can be rebuilt, one decision at a time.
Oliver is an ambassador for Alcohol Change UK and you can access support here - https://tinyurl.com/5dt5773e
Thank you to Gavin Sisters for sponsoring this episode! Visit -
www.gavinsisters.co.uk
and use promo code SCHOOLOFROCKBOTTOM for 10% off!
Podcasting is an expensive passion. To help me keep going, I'd really appreciate it if you could buy me a coffee, thank you!
https://buymeacoffee.com/olivermason1
Or via PayPal - https://www.paypal.me/olivermason1paypal
Topics -
0:00 Trailer & Intro
3:05 A rock bottom moment
10:50 Do you REALLY decide to get sober?
13:05 How Tash smashed her denial
16:45 The moment Tash could no longer ignore the pain
18:25 Are addicts weak?
21:05 Nature vs nurture
23:05 Addiction to slimming tablets
26:45 Love addiction
28:05 Alcohol to coke/speed
31:20 Addiction link to ADHD
36:25 Functioning vs non functioning
38:50 Smuggling drugs inside yourself
42:35 Severe cognitive decline
44:35 How Tash got sober
50:05 The Clear Head Club
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#addiction
#recovery
#sobriety

If you've ever believed alcohol is what makes nights out, parties or social events enjoyable, this conversation may completely change the way you think about drinking. What if the confidence, laughter and connection you've been giving credit to alcohol were actually there all along? In this next quick thought, I revisit a conversation with William porter and the surprising psychology behind socialising, why alcohol can become a placebo, and how it quietly convinces us we need it to relax. Understanding this one idea could change the way you experience every social occasion.
Many people assume alcohol creates happiness, confidence and connection. But what if those feelings come from something much more natural? We explore the science behind endorphins, why social situations feel rewarding without alcohol, and how drinking can gradually convince us that we need it just to enjoy ourselves.
We discuss why children naturally relax and have fun without alcohol, how regular drinking changes our expectations of social events, and why so many people believe they can't enjoy a party, holiday or night at the pub without a drink. We also talk about learning to feel comfortable again without chemical interference, the role of alcohol-free drinks in recovery, and why every recovery journey is different.
Whether you're sober, sober curious, questioning your relationship with alcohol, or supporting someone who is, this episode offers a fresh perspective on one of the biggest myths surrounding drinking.
Listen or watch THE FULL EPISODE
YouTube - https://tinyurl.com/yxkh2eny
Spotify - https://tinyurl.com/bdfj6568
Apple - https://apple.co/3PajZvQ
About the “THOUGHT” series -
Every other Monday at 5 PM, I’ll bring you a quick ‘thought’—a powerful moment from previous episodes designed to kickstart your week with insight, motivation, and connection. These shorter clips help us stay connected as a community, while every other Tuesday delivers a full, brand-new episode with fresh stories and lessons.
Oliver is an ambassadors for Alcohol Change UK and you can access support here - https://tinyurl.com/5dt5773e
Podcasting is an expensive passion. To help me keep going, I'd really appreciate it if you could buy me a coffee, thank you!
https://buymeacoffee.com/olivermason1
Or via PayPal - https://www.paypal.me/olivermason1paypal
Follow William
https://www.alcoholexplained.co
Follow Oliver
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#Sobriety
#AlcoholRecovery
#SoberCurious

DJ Fat Tony has spent over four decades at the centre of British nightlife. He has DJed for Madonna, Prince and Elton John. He has played Glastonbury, Ibiza, and everywhere in between. He is one of the most recognisable figures in the global party scene. And for nearly three decades, he was also dying.
By the time he reached his breaking point, he had almost no teeth left, weighed barely seven stone, and believed it was over. In 2007, he went into rehab. Today he is 19 years clean and sober. But this episode is not about that story. It is about what came after.
Tony does not arrive with a polished redemption arc. He arrives with the version most people never tell — the rock bottom that happened six years into sobriety, when the substances were gone but the behaviour was not. Sex addiction. Drama. Ego. Homelessness again. The slow, humiliating realisation that getting clean is only the beginning.
We go back to the beginning too. A Battersea council estate. A family soaked in addiction. A child who learned by age three that being ill got him attention, and built an entire survival strategy around chaos and crisis long before he ever touched a drink or a drug. Tony traces the through-line from that child to the man who, years into recovery, was still running the same patterns — performing in meetings, manipulating sponsors, using recovery itself as the newest addiction.
What unfolds is a masterclass in the difference between sobriety and recovery. Tony breaks down powerlessness and what it actually means once you are no longer using it as an excuse. He talks about the 12 steps with the authority of someone who has both lived them and failed them. He is forensic about amends — why early apologies in recovery are almost always self-serving, why his own father told him to come back when he actually knew what he was apologising for, and why the only amends that count are the ones you live rather than speak.
He also talks about sponsorship with a level of honesty that is rare. Picking sponsors to manipulate. Sponsoring people he was attracted to. The moment he finally got a sponsor who would not let him perform his way through the steps — and how that person changed everything.
Tony’s new book, Recover Me, is the book he had to write after his memoir I Don’t Take Requests told the world a version of the story he had not yet been fully honest about. He talks about recording the audiobook and hearing himself read things he had previously suppressed. The shame versus embarrassment distinction that freed him. The moment he realised the more honest he became, the more free he felt.
This conversation ends not in darkness but in something quieter and more powerful than just being drug free. Tony talks about the pinch-me moments that only become visible when chaos is no longer the baseline. From looking at his dog asleep in the morning to DJing to twenty thousand people and knowing the real success is simply waking up and being glad to be alive.
Oliver is an ambassador for Alcohol Change UK, support here - https://tinyurl.com/5dt5773e
Sponsor -
www.gavinsisters.co.uk
promo code SCHOOLOFROCKBOTTOM for 10% off!
Support the pod https://www.paypal.me/olivermason1paypal
Topics -
0:00 Trailer & Intro
4:10 A rock bottom moment
7:00 Sex addiction
8:30 Attention was my first drug!
11:00 Addicted do drama?!
13:30 Was Tony born an addict?
16:50 Breaking the stigma
20:30 Helping others
23:45 Are war stories important?
26:45 Is Tony powerless?
32:30 Changing meetings
34:15 Anonymous?!
35:50 Recovery and self validation
37:45 Shop around for recovery
40:50 Tony gets really honest
43:50 Guilt vs shame
45:45 Making amends
51:15 Sponsorship
54:15 The 90/10 rule
55:45 Pinch moments & recovery
58:10 Turn anxiety into drive!
Follow Tony
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Tony's new book -
https://geni.us/Recover_Me”
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Links
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Are triggers and cravings real, or have we misunderstood what’s actually happening in addiction and recovery?
In this next thought, I revisit a brilliant conversation with Pax as we challenge one of the most commonly used ideas in recovery: that external triggers cause relapse. For many people early in sobriety, it feels obvious. Certain places, people, stress, even cities become labelled as “the problem”. But what if that’s not what’s really going on?
This conversation explores a more uncomfortable idea — that the trigger may not be external at all, but internal. Not the environment, but the interpretation. Not the situation, but the reaction. And if that’s true, it completely changes how we think about relapse, responsibility, and control.
We also go into cravings — what they actually are, when they’re neurological and physical in early recovery, and how they’re often mislabelled later on. At a certain point, is it still accurate to call it a craving, or is something else happening underneath it: obsession, emotional overload, or unresolved internal conflict?
This is a conversation that challenges a lot of common language used in addiction recovery, and asks a simple but uncomfortable question: are we naming the problem correctly — or using the wrong language for what’s actually happening inside us?
Listen or watch THE FULL EPISODE
YouTube - https://bit.ly/42vXUPf
Spotify - https://bit.ly/4aBsmJU
Apple - https://apple.co/3PajZvQ
About the “THOUGHT” series -
Every other Monday at 5 PM, I’ll bring you a quick ‘thought’—a powerful moment from previous episodes designed to kickstart your week with insight, motivation, and connection. These shorter clips help us stay connected as a community, while every other Tuesday delivers a full, brand-new episode with fresh stories and lessons.
Oliver is an ambassadors for Alcohol Change UK and you can access support here - https://tinyurl.com/5dt5773e
Podcasting is an expensive passion. To help me keep going, I'd really appreciate it if you could buy me a coffee, thank you!
https://buymeacoffee.com/olivermason1
Or via PayPal - https://www.paypal.me/olivermason1paypal
Follow Pax
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/paxhalai
Follow Oliver
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X - https://tinyurl.com/3u5mnpds
#SobrietyStories
#HopeInDarkness
#AddictionRecovery