The Delusion That We Are Like Others, Must Be Smashed (The Daily Trudge)The Delusion That We Are Like Others, Must Be Smashed (The Daily Trudge)
RAW Recovery Podcast
Host Dion uses humour, Big Book reading and personal stories to talk about the illusion that an alcoholic can drink like others and why that idea must be let go. The conversation highlights responsibility, spiritual help, and the emotional weight of admitting complete lack of control over alcohol.
38:58•12 Apr 2026
Smashing the ‘I Can Drink Like Others’ Myth on RAW Recovery
Episode Overview
- Alcoholism is identified by the pattern of returning to drink despite consequences, not by knowledge, effort or willpower.
- Feeling different from others is common, but using that as an excuse to drink feeds the illusion of being “terminally unique.”
- Being “born this way” is not your fault, yet taking responsibility for actions and change is still essential.
- No current treatment can turn a real alcoholic into a normal drinker; the aim is to stop drinking, not control it.
- A reliable defence against the first drink is seen as coming from a higher power rather than human will alone.
“You couldn’t help yourself. It’s not your fault that you were born this way. It’s not, okay? Now, that is not an excuse to not take responsibility for our actions.”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? This RAW Recovery “Daily Trudge” session with host Dion circles around one core idea from the Big Book’s *More About Alcoholism* chapter: “The delusion that we are like other people has to be smashed. Hulk smash.” Broadcast live on a sleepy Sunday, the tone is laid-back and funny from the start.
Dion jokes about babysitting a dog, wrangling his cats, and rolls through “Dion’s daily funnies” with groan-worthy dad jokes before shifting into serious Big Book study. It’s the kind of mix that reminds you recovery can be serious business and still make room for laughter. Using page 30 of the Big Book, Dion talks about the pattern of going back to drink “again and again, despite the consequences” and how that pattern, not knowledge or willpower, shows alcoholism.
He shares how he knew he was alcoholic by age 14, felt more at home in AA than Alateen, and spent years chasing that first moment of finally feeling like he “belonged” at a teenage party. You’ll hear him unpack heavy phrases like “pitiful and incomprehensible demoralisation,” reading out a definition and letting its weight land, then relating it to his own experience of suicidal drinking and long-term damage.
He stresses that being “born this way” isn’t a free pass: “Now that you know it’s not your fault, you still got to do something about it.” Along the way he talks about asking questions in recovery (“there are no stupid questions, just silly answers”), feeling different without being “terminally unique,” and the idea that no treatment can turn a real alcoholic into a normal drinker.
The episode ends on the classic AA reminder: when the mind can’t defend against the first drink, that defence “must come from a higher power.” If you’ve ever clung to the hope that one day you’ll drink like everyone else, this chat might hit uncomfortably close – in a good way. What illusion about alcohol are you still hanging on to?
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