A recovering alcoholic shares his story
Aug 9, 2024, 8:00 AM | Updated: 10:59 am
SALT LAKE CITY – Millions of people all over the world struggle with alcohol addiction. Randall Carlisle was one of them.
Carlisle is the Media and Community Affairs Specialist at Odyssey House of Utah. He was a functional alcoholic for 40 years, and now he is a recovering alcoholic.
The impact of alcohol on physical health
According to a new study by the New York Times, no amount of alcohol is good for your physical health. Not even a glass of red wine. As convincing as it sounds, Randall says it’s not enough to stop alcoholics from drinking. The same goes for any other addiction.
“So many people that come into Odyssey House who are addicted to fentanyl know fully well because they’ve read all the articles about people overdosing and dying, and they’re still doing it,” he said.
The experience of a recovering alcoholic
Randall described the transition from the moderate drinker to the heavy drinker as a progressive disease.
“I started out in college just having fun at parties and things like that, and alcoholism runs in my family on the paternal side… It just became a daily occurrence and then it just increased over the years,” he said.
When asked why he drank, Randall listed a couple of reasons. On bad days, he drank to relieve his stress and frustration. On good days, he drank to celebrate. It wasn’t until he started feeling more and more depressed toward the end of the day that he asked himself, “Do I want to live the rest of my life like this?”
The answer was no. He didn’t want to keep this going. That’s when he checked into an intensive outpatient program at the University of Utah, now known as the Huntsman Mental Health Institute.
“I went through that program twice, and I’ve been sober for 13 years now,” Randall said.
Listen to Dave & Dujanovic on weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon and Fridays from 9 to 11 a.m.
