What Is Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT)What Is Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT)
Addict II Athlete Podcast
Coach Blu Robinson and Dr Mark Leeds talk through Medication-Assisted Treatment for opioid addiction, sharing real patient experiences, common misconceptions and practical realities. The conversation focuses on success rates, stigma and how long-term medication can fit into a meaningful recovery life.
52:29•31 Aug 2020
Is MAT Really Recovery? Straight Talk on Medication and Opioid Addiction
Episode Overview
- Medication-Assisted Treatment can offer far higher success rates than abstinence-only rehab, especially for opioid addiction.
- Staying on medications like buprenorphine for one to two years or longer can give the brain time to heal and reduce obsessive cravings.
- People on prescribed MAT who follow their programme and avoid illicit drugs can reasonably see themselves as clean and in recovery.
- Rapid tapers and forced detoxes often backfire, pushing people back to street drugs or repeated residential stays.
- Families best support loved ones on MAT by understanding the treatment, helping keep medication secure, and avoiding pressure to stop too soon.
“If you’re taking your medication as directed and doing well and not using drugs… you should consider yourself to be clean and in recovery.”
Curious about how others manage opioid addiction while still living real lives with jobs, families and bills to pay? This conversation on Addict II Athlete brings a very down-to-earth look at Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) and what it can realistically offer. Host Coach Blu Robinson teams up with Dr Mark Leeds, a long-time addiction doctor, to talk frankly about suboxone, methadone, naltrexone and why MAT remains so misunderstood.
Early on, Dr Leeds tackles the biggest fear head-on: that MAT is just “switching one drug for another”. He counters with what he’s seeing daily: people starting businesses, rebuilding families and, as he puts it, going from “Superman with a chain with kryptonite around his neck” to finally having that kryptonite removed. The episode walks through how different medications work, why buprenorphine often sits in the “sweet spot”, and how long someone might need to stay on treatment.
You’ll hear clear explanations of why quick tapers so often fail, why “one to two weeks detox” rarely cuts it, and how long-term, steady dosing can give the brain time to heal while people actually engage in therapy. Coach Blu and co-host Marissa also bring in questions from their community: does MAT slow brain healing? Is it “cheating” to stay on suboxone for years?
Dr Leeds is blunt: “If you’re taking your medication as directed…you should consider yourself to be clean and in recovery.” They also talk about cost, stigma in 12-step circles, worried family members, and the very practical stuff like bad-tasting films and long dissolve times. If you’ve ever wondered whether MAT “counts” as recovery, or you’re supporting someone on these medications, this chat offers straight talk, real examples and some much-needed humour.
What if recovery could include medicine and still be completely valid?
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.