Meet The Emotions Matter Co-Chair Of The Board (Feat. Brad)Meet The Emotions Matter Co-Chair Of The Board (Feat. Brad)
Bold Beautiful Borderline
Brad shares his experiences of BPD, addiction and sobriety while talking about how Emotions Matter’s peer-led community has supported his recovery. The conversation touches on relationships, suicidal ideation, identity and finding healthier outlets for an addictive mindset.
44:05•1 Oct 2026
Brad’s Story: Sobriety, BPD, and Finding Community With Emotions Matter
Episode Overview
- Alcohol and drugs can feel like effective "medicine" until their consequences outweigh the relief they bring.
- Sobriety may initially make life feel harder, but it can create the space needed to address underlying mental health issues.
- A BPD diagnosis can be distressing yet also validating, offering language for intense emotions and rapid mood shifts.
- Peer-led support groups with others who have BPD can reduce isolation and provide a safe, non-judgemental space to be honest.
- Channelling addictive traits into volunteering, creative outlets or community work can support ongoing recovery and self-identity.
“Drugs and alcohol, you know, they were my medicine, and they work up until they don't.”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol when it has shaped their career, identity, and social world? This episode of Bold Beautiful Borderline follows Brad, a 44-year-old co-chair of the Emotions Matter board, as he talks openly about living with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), addiction, and finding community. Brad shares how alcohol and drugs became his "medicine" from his teens: they switched off anxiety, boosted his humour, and helped him chase the external validation he craved.
Working in the alcohol industry for decades, he was "the beer guy"—until four and a half years ago, when he stopped drinking and using drugs and began facing the mental health pain underneath. As he puts it, "drugs and alcohol, you know, they were my medicine, and they work up until they don't." He talks about suicidal ideation as a strange source of comfort and control, and how codependent relationships and a shaky sense of identity fed his despair.
Sobriety didn’t magically fix anything; instead, life felt "infinitely more hard" at first. Yet that difficulty pushed him into intensive outpatient treatment and eventually towards a BPD diagnosis that felt both heavy and validating, finally giving him language for his rapid emotional cycles. A turning point came when Brad joined Emotions Matter’s peer-led support groups. Meeting other people with BPD was the first time he felt truly safe, understood, and free from the pressure to explain his emotional intensity.
Volunteering as a facilitator, creating speciality groups for men and for substance use, and now co-chairing the board helps him channel his addictive traits into something constructive. There’s also lighter chat about tattoos, sober pain tolerance, and the joy of feeling more like himself—right down to 50 new pieces of ink in a year.
If you’re wrestling with BPD, addiction, or that haunting question of who you really are, could hearing Brad’s story be the nudge towards your own safe community and next step in recovery?
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