Reframing Relapse: Why Addicts Learn What Others Don’t

Reframing Relapse: Why Addicts Learn What Others Don’t

What can we learn from those who have battled addiction? This High Functioning segment of Chasing Heroine zooms in on an idea that might sound outrageous at first: repeated relapse can actually give people an edge in life. Jeannine shares candid stories from her 15 years of addiction and many failed attempts at getting clean, using them to challenge the shame-heavy view of relapse.

From trying to control her drinking by bringing exactly enough cash for a couple of Jack and Diet Cokes, to attempting to block her dealer’s number through her phone company, she walks through the wild, often painful experiments many people in addiction recognise all too well. She compares this “damaged but better” process to a golf ball: early balls were smooth, but once they picked up nicks and dents, they flew faster and straighter.

Those “divots” are like relapses and failed strategies – marks of experience that, if you’re willing to learn from them, can actually improve your aim in life. A key theme is the hard-won ability to ask for and accept help.

Jeannine talks about being humbled by relapse to the point where she finally followed the advice of people with actual recovery credentials, and later applied that same openness to coaching in her fitness career and to guidance from successful content creators. The skill of taking direction, she argues, is one many “normies” never fully develop. Throughout, the tone is warm, funny, and very real.

You’ll hear about mugging at gunpoint, meth calendars, dodgy “healers”, and the journey from stubborn self-will to genuine teachability – all framed as assets rather than permanent stains. If you’ve ever felt like a failure for coming back again and again, this conversation suggests something very different: what if those returns are proof you’re building grit, humility, and the courage to grow? And how could you use that today?