#311 - Whose Story Is It To Tell?

#311 - Whose Story Is It To Tell?

What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? For Matt and Paige Robinson, part of the answer lies in asking a tough question: **whose story is it to tell** when addiction, trauma and mental health have torn through a family? In this candid, sometimes fiery conversation, the married hosts talk through whether spouses and loved ones have the right to speak openly about their experiences of someone else's addiction.

Paige shares how isolating it felt to be told to "keep your mouth shut" by certain recovery circles, and why she now talks more from the trauma side than from labels like codependency. Matt backs her fully, saying, "It's your life too. It's your story too," and stresses that partners shouldn't be silenced to protect his ego or reputation.

You'll hear them unpack the difference between sharing for healing versus using details as a weapon, and how secrecy can become a form of control that keeps everyone stuck and unwell. They touch on public examples like Twitch’s widow and author Annie Parker to show how widows and spouses are often attacked for speaking openly about addiction and its fallout, especially when the addicted partner has died.

Matt talks frankly about shame as fuel for change rather than something to run from, admitting his own past as an "active asshole" and insisting that hearing Paige's full truth only deepens his growth and humility. They also highlight the huge gap in resources for spouses compared with those aimed at people in active addiction or recovery.

For anyone married to addiction, feeling muzzled by "family secrets" or worried about betraying someone by telling the truth, this conversation offers validation, humour, and some hard questions: who benefits from your silence, and what might change if you started to speak?