TSP 55: "The Addiction PTSD Cocktail" with Steve C: Iraq, Alcoholism, PTSD, Veterans Court and Recovery.TSP 55: "The Addiction PTSD Cocktail" with Steve C: Iraq, Alcoholism, PTSD, Veterans Court and Recovery.
The SHAIR Recovery Podcast
Steve C shares how military service, PTSD and family addiction intersect with his alcoholism, relapse and eventual commitment to AA. He also talks about mentoring veterans through Veterans Court and the role of spiritual experiences and connection in his ongoing recovery.
1:10:54•1 Mar 2016
War, Guilt and Getting Sober: Steve C’s Journey from Beirut to Veterans Court
Episode Overview
- Alcohol may feel like quick relief for PTSD, but Steve calls it the worst way to deal with trauma compared with therapy, group support and step work.
- Relapse can happen even after months in recovery; honesty about it, as Steve models, is key to starting again properly.
- Connecting at meetings by shaking hands, talking to people and looking for similarities rather than differences helps break the ‘lone wolf’ pattern.
- Supporting others—through sponsorship or mentoring, like Steve does in Veterans Court—can strengthen your own sobriety.
- There is rarely a “perfect time” to quit; waiting for the calendar to clear just keeps drinking going.
“This spring inside my body that had been coiled all my life, just all of a sudden unwound. And it just told me, you're safe, and you're going to be okay.”
What remarkable journeys have people faced head-on against addiction? This episode shares Steve C’s story of war, PTSD and alcoholism, and how he finds a new life through recovery. Steve talks about growing up around heavy drinking, seeing it as normal and even glamorous.
His real turning point starts with the military: from Okinawa bar life and country-and-western gigs to the chaos of Beirut, where a nearby car bomb blast and later survivor’s guilt after the barracks bombing leave deep emotional scars. With no real support when he returns home, he leans harder on alcohol as his “old‑fashioned way” of coping with PTSD.
Years later, success in medical sales, constant travel and ego-fuelled partying keep the problem hidden, until a DUI, mounting consequences and his son’s addiction drag everything into the light. The most painful moment is rushing to hospital after his son’s drink‑drive crash and realising he is too drunk to drive there himself. That night he tells his son, “I know you got a problem… because I got one, too,” and walks into his first AA meeting.
Steve is honest about relapse, returning to drink after eight months, and the shame of still going to meetings while secretly drinking. His true sobriety starts on 11 December 2011, when he commits fully to the 12 steps, sponsorship and regular meetings.
He describes a powerful early spiritual moment where “this spring inside my body that had been coiled all my life… just all of a sudden unwound.” Now he gives back as a mentor in Veterans Court, supporting Iraq and Afghanistan veterans through addiction-related charges and into recovery‑focused programmes. If you’re juggling trauma, family worry and booze, this story might have you asking: what would happen if you gave yourself the same chance Steve did?
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