107: Adversity to Award Winning Author with Tricia Copeland107: Adversity to Award Winning Author with Tricia Copeland
You're Sober! Now What?
Award-winning author Tricia Copeland shares how anorexia, a near-death health crisis and group recovery shaped her life, writing and views on addiction. The conversation looks at resilience, emotional honesty, and the idea that everyone carries their own unique "brand of magic."
34:36•14 Jun 2021
From Anorexia and Near Death to Award-Winning Author: Tricia Copeland’s Story
Episode Overview
- Eating disorders can share the same brain chemistry patterns as drug addictions, with restriction and over-exercise providing a comparable "high."
- Recovery often starts with accepting personal responsibility while also acknowledging that you can’t get out of it alone.
- Practical boundaries, such as never missing meals and monitoring exercise volume, help prevent relapse into old behaviours.
- Learning to talk openly about fear, pain and difficult emotions is a key skill for long-term recovery and real connection.
- Past struggles can be used creatively, as shown by turning a recovery journey into fiction that gives hope and relatability to others.
“"I gained truly being open to people and truly knowing another person and having another person truly know me and that being like just okay."”
What drives someone to seek a life without self-destruction and turn it into creative success? This conversation follows award-winning author Tricia Copeland as she chats with host Tamar about how an eating disorder nearly cost her life and how recovery shaped everything she does today. Tricia shares how, as a high-achieving student, her self-worth became tied to grades and appearance. Skipping lunch in high school slowly morphed into full-blown anorexia at university, fuelled by depression, family pressure and difficult relationships.
She talks candidly about dropping to 72 pounds, her heart struggling to keep a steady beat, and the brutal honesty of a doctor who told her, "You did this to yourself. We can't help you." Instead of glamorising any of it, the chat focuses on how similar eating disorders and substance addictions can be.
Tricia recalls being offended at first when treated alongside cocaine addicts, only to realise, as her doctor put it, that her brain chemistry "was just like a cocaine addict" – the same chase for a high, just with food restriction and over-exercise. From there, you'll hear how she learned basic emotional skills many take for granted: talking about fear, asking for help, and accepting that she has worth simply because she exists.
She explains the practical boundaries that keep her safe today – never skipping meals, watching exercise habits, and checking herself when old patterns creep in. The episode also highlights Tricia’s writing life: how her recovery story became the fictional Being Me series, why she loves fantasy and vampires, and what she means when she says everyone has their own "brand of magic" – that quirky mix of talents, kindness and creativity that makes each person unique.
If you’ve ever swapped one addiction for another, battled body image, or wondered whether your past can feed a new purpose, this chat might get you asking: what’s your magic, and are you giving it a chance?
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