From Working on Wall Street to a Two Month Psychotic Episode...Criminal Trespassing, Abusive Relationships, a Home Made Eye Patch and Finally a "Soft Landing" in Malibu with McKennaFrom Working on Wall Street to a Two Month Psychotic Episode...Criminal Trespassing, Abusive Relationships, a Home Made Eye Patch and Finally a "Soft Landing" in Malibu with McKenna
Chasing Heroine: Addiction Recovery Podcast
McKenna recounts how casual Adderall use grew into psychosis, arrests and abusive relationships, before finding safety in treatment, sober living and new possibilities in work and family life. The conversation highlights therapy, meditation, 12‑step work and strong family support as key parts of her ongoing sobriety.
1:10:09•4 Jun 2026
From Wall Street Adderall Binge to Malibu Recovery: McKenna’s Wild Ride
Episode Overview
- Adderall can look like a harmless study aid yet quietly escalate to daily dependence, legal trouble and full psychosis.
- Timelines, therapy and honest reflection can reveal just how long substance use has been shaping a person’s life.
- Residential treatment that combines multiple therapies, including brainspotting and guided meditation, can calm anxiety and support deep change.
- Staying in sober living instead of going straight home provides structure, community and space to rebuild healthy habits.
- Recovery can open unexpected paths – in McKenna’s case, turning a ‘get well job’ selling doors into her own business and a stable life as a sober mum-to-be.
“"Give me enough Adderall and I could conquer the world… I could solve poverty."”
Witness the remarkable journeys of those who have faced addiction head‑on as McKenna shares how a high‑school Adderall pill on Long Island spiralled into psychosis, arrests and abusive relationships. A former Fordham graduate and Wall Street high‑flyer, she describes chasing productivity with ever‑increasing doses of Adderall, swapping in cocaine or molly when the script ran dry, and convincing herself she "didn't have a problem" because she was smart, employed and from a loving family.
The façade cracks with criminal trespass charges (complete with a rooftop fire escape and eight armed officers), a DWI, violent partners and, eventually, a two‑month drug‑induced psychosis where she was hand‑making an eye patch and convinced bugs were coming out of her back. Host Jeannine Coulter Lindgren keeps things funny and real, constantly comparing their shared experiences of denial, timelines in early treatment, and that surreal feeling of being asked, "What are you doing here?" in a jail cell.
McKenna walks through her “soft landing” at Seasons in Malibu, from arriving with six suitcases and hot‑pink platforms to finding safety in one‑to‑one therapy, brainspotting, body‑scan meditation and structured support for anxiety. She explains how sober living, 12‑step work and daily 10th‑step inventories repaired relationships with her family, even allowing her to make amends to her late father at his gravesite.
Today she’s over three years sober, newly married, pregnant with a baby girl, and running her own door company – a career that started as a simple “get well job” in early recovery. If you’re wondering whether your own Adderall or “productivity” habit might be more than it looks, or you’re scared of rehab but craving change, this candid, funny and raw conversation might be exactly the nudge you need.
What new possibilities could be waiting on the other side of letting go?
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