Treating Chemsex Addiction
Treating Chemsex Addiction

SMART Recovery® Podcast

Sobriety coach Dr. Dallas Bragg talks with host Luke Frazier about chemsex addiction among gay men, why it needs specialised support, and how lived experience shapes his coaching. The conversation touches on stigma, relapse, family healing and future work on rebuilding a sober sex life.

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34:53•4 Nov 2026

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Chemsex, Belonging and Recovery with Dr. Dallas Bragg

Episode Overview

Chemsex among men who have sex with men often centres on crystal meth and GHB and combines intense drug use with prolonged sexual activity.
Dallas stresses that meth and sex can become neurologically fused, making sexual arousal itself a major trigger to use.
Standard treatment and justice systems frequently lack understanding of chemsex, leading to missed needs and increased shame.
Dallas’s coaching approach accepts relapse as common in meth recovery and avoids shaming language and religiously framed models.
His key advice for those stuck in chemsex is to break secrecy by telling someone, ideally the person they are most afraid to tell.

“I quickly, very quickly became addicted to that feeling of belonging.”

What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol or drugs when the pull of belonging feels stronger than anything else? This conversation from the SMART Recovery® Podcast looks at chemsex addiction through the lived experience of sobriety coach Dr. Dallas Bragg.

You'll hear how Dallas, a gay man who came out later in life, moved from feeling isolated in mainstream gay spaces to finding instant status in chemsex circles: parties fuelled by crystal meth, GHB and other drugs, often lasting for days.

He explains that, for many men who have sex with men, the real hook isn't just the drug, but the powerful sense of acceptance: "I quickly, very quickly became addicted to that feeling of belonging." Dallas and host Luke Frazier talk about how chemsex operates as a global subculture, with its own language, online spaces and constant availability through apps like Grindr, even in rural areas.

Dallas argues that meth and sex fuse in the brain, so sexual arousal itself becomes a direct trigger to use, which standard treatment approaches often miss. The episode outlines why focused support is crucial: higher relapse rates for crystal meth, intense shame around both drug use and sexuality, and widespread religious trauma that makes some traditional recovery models feel unsafe.

Dallas shares how he built a coaching practice specifically for gay men in chemsex, emphasising non-shaming language, acceptance of relapse as part of the process, and the importance of sitting with someone who truly understands the "dark side" of chemsex. He also talks about future work on "sober sex 101" to help men rebuild a satisfying sex life without drugs, and the need for the wider LGBTQIA+ community and public services to stop sweeping chemsex under the rug.

Dallas leaves a simple, challenging suggestion for anyone stuck in the chemsex cycle: "Tell somebody"—especially the person you're most afraid to tell. Who might that be for you?

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