Suffer to Tougher - a coffee with Author Marc RogalaSuffer to Tougher - a coffee with Author Marc Rogala
Sober.Coffee Podcast
Mike and Glenn share coffee with author Marc Rogala as he recounts his journey from opiate addiction and overdose to sobriety, purpose and writing *Suffer to Tougher*. The conversation highlights dual diagnosis, practical recovery tools, and how mindset, routine and nutrition can support change.
31:09•6 May 2026
Suffer to Tougher: Marc Rogala on Hitting Rock Bottom and Building Real Strength
Episode Overview
- Addiction can grow from a mix of work stress, pain, over-prescribed medication and unaddressed mental health issues.
- Dual diagnosis means facing both addiction and mental health conditions, and labels and heavy medication can sometimes add to the weight.
- Practical daily rituals – mindset shifts, movement and routine – help support sobriety alongside programmes like AA.
- Seeing food as fuel and “medicine” can improve mood and brain chemistry, strengthening recovery.
- Asking for help and dropping the ego is a crucial first step; recovery is built with the support of many people, not alone.
“Check your ego at the door. It's okay to ask for help.”
What remarkable journeys have people faced head-on against addiction? This coffee shop chat brings one of them right to your ears as Mike and Glenn sit down with author and recovering addict Marc Rogala to talk about his book, *Suffer to Tougher: From Rock Bottom to Real Strength*. Marc shares how a high-pressure career, chronic pain and over-prescribed opiates pulled him from functional drinker to chewing fentanyl patches meant for cancer patients.
His story includes divorce, multiple overdoses and waking up on a ventilator – and then that critical moment in psychiatric care when a speaker from a mental health charity made him think, "This guy doesn't look like he lived that life." That encounter nudged him towards treatment and a clean break from drugs and alcohol in July 2020.
You’ll hear Marc unpack what “dual diagnosis” meant in his life – PTSD, anxiety and depression alongside addiction – and why he believes, "You don't know what you don't know" about mental health until someone explains it in plain English. The conversation stays very down-to-earth, mixing dark humour with straight talk about shame, labels and being a "chemical experiment" on multiple meds.
The episode also digs into why Marc and fitness coach Kelsey Dunbar wrote *Suffer to Tougher* as a practical workbook filled with daily rituals, mindset shifts and “food as medicine” ideas, aimed at anyone caught between addiction and mental health struggles. They’ve followed it up with a children’s book, *You’re Not Broken*, and a nutrition guide that supports better brain chemistry.
This one is especially useful if you like recovery conversations that talk honestly about AA, therapy, family fallout and relapse risk, but still leave you feeling that change is possible. As Marc says to anyone in chaos right now: "Check your ego at the door. It's okay to ask for help." So what small change could you start with today – mindset, movement or maybe just asking someone for support?
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.
Related Episodes
Similar episodes from other shows in the catalogue.