Transcending addiction and redefining recovery: Jacki Hillios at TEDxBoulder

Transcriber: Take A Mile Reviewer: Ali Alshalali I work with people that many of you stereotypically love. They are alcoholics. They are buzzers and they are drunks. They are addicts. They are pill users and addicts. You see, I've always wanted to understand why people do what they do. Because I think if I can figure out the why, then I can find ways to help them. Help them find a better life and heal. So I worked as a doctor for probably about 15 years and watched drugs and alcohol destroy people's lives. I made the decision to go back to school and earned my PhD.

Because I thought that maybe through research I can find some of the answers to the questions that I couldn't answer as a doctor. And what's really exciting is that I'm finding some of those answers, and I'm going to share some of those answers with you here tonight. When I was a doctor, I saw a lot of people who wanted to get sober, worked really hard to try to get sober, but they just couldn't. And of course, it wasn't because they didn't want to, but because things just got in their way. Let me tell you a little about Anna.

When I met Anna, she was trying to get off meth. She's probably been in treatment five or six times and it's burned all her bridges. But she said she wanted to get clean and then we found her program that she could go to. This particular show was going to be a little difficult because it's a non-smoking show and Anna smokes cigarettes as well as meth. And she was there for a couple of hours before lighting the cigarette. There were no second chances. They kicked her out. In fact, they drove down the road to the 7-11 and left her.

She had no money or phone. And really her only chance at that point, her only option, was to hitchhike back to the meth house. And that's what she did. I heard from Anna a couple of weeks later and wanted to try it again. But this time, in order to receive treatment, she would have to go through a detox program. She attended three detox programs before finding one that would accept her. The first one she went to was a medical detox center. And well, if you're not going to die, they don't want to admit you to the program.

There is no risk, why bother? And when you quit meth, it hurts a lot, but you don't die. The second program she attended was cash only. She did not have money. You can't pay, you can't stay. But she found this third program and was finally admitted. Ten hours after she entered the program, my cell phone broke. It was 4 in the morning. The nurse on the other line told me it was over. She had completed her detoxification treatment. And now they wanted me to go look for her. It's 4 in the morning. But she sees, if they didn't come looking for her, they also said they were going to make her just leave.

And she knew where it was going to end. So I went and got her, and this is where things got really difficult. Because she is now on the waiting list to receive treatment. We didn't know if it would take her a day, a week, or a month to get in. And I had no idea what to do next. Anna is not alone. Today in the United States there are 23 million people struggling with

addiction

. And of them, 10% can receive treatment. And of the people who receive treatment, between 40 and 60% relapse during the first year. So after a year, only about half of people are still sober.

And the question remains: even if they have received treatment, what will they do when they get home? Whats Next? And what happens to those 90% of people who do not receive any treatment? What are they supposed to do? You see, chances are their cell phones are full of phone numbers of people they drink with and used with. They can go back to bars and parties. They really don't know what to do, because they burned all their bridges. Think about that for a moment. If you were one of these people, what would you do? Can you imagine what tomorrow will be like?

About ten years ago, I was climbing at Rock Gym in Boston, Massachusetts, and met a guy named Scott Strode. And we became friends and climbing partners. Scott! He told me that he is in

recovery

. I didn't really think anything about it because the truth is that we were climbing and we were having a lot of fun. And there was one New Year's Eve weekend where a whole group of people got together and we went ice climbing. And again, knock it out of the park, we had a lot of fun. A few weeks after that holiday weekend, Scott told me that it was the first time the holidays had happened and he hadn't thought about drinking.

He shared with me this idea that he had of doing things differently. He wanted to take what he had learned from his personal experience in

recovery

and give it to other people. And I thought it was obvious. You see, Scott got sober after years of heavy drinking and doing a lot of cocaine. And luckily for him, he entered a boxing gym. And then mountaineering and then triathlon. And with every mountain he climbed and every finish line he crossed, his recovery grew stronger. But what he struggled with was stigma and shame. Telling people that he was in recovery was very difficult and he often felt alone.

When I met Scott, my life changed because I realized something while spending time with him. And that was that people are not his illness. Shortly after this great weekend, Scott felt very inspired and decided that he wanted to make this happen. He then moved here, to Boulder, Colorado, and started a program called "Phoenix Multisport" and asked me to help him. So we created this program, where addicts were no longer defined by their

addiction

, but, shoulder to shoulder, they climbed mountains and inspired others. And in 2006 Phoenix Multisport was born. It is a hands-on community for people recovering from drugs and alcohol and engages them in an active lifestyle.

And through activities like climbing, hiking, running, cycling, and strength training, people find the strength and support they need to recover. In Colorado right now, on the Front Range, Phoenix has served over 8,000 people. (Applause) (Applause ends) In case anyone is wondering, we have goals to conquer the world. Audience: Yes! Our instructors facilitate probably 45 events a week, which is really amazing, because what it means is that every day of the week there's something people can do and there's some way to connect. They don't have to be alone. The other thing that's really unique about Phoenix Multisport is that all of our instructors are what we call peer professionals.

Which means they themselves are in recovery. Because we think they're in this unique position of knowing what really works and what doesn't, and what's most important. And they can also connect people to the broader sober community. That, as a doctor, I could never do. It's pretty amazing! The other thing people ask me all the time. If we simply replace one addiction with another, alcohol and drugs, replace them with running and climbing, the answer is no. Sport brings people together, but it is the experiences that people have: it is the fun and the people that keep them coming back and help them heal.

Many of our members wear t-shirts that say Phoenix Multisport or sobri on the chest. You see, it's really hard to be bound by stigma and shame when so many people around you are proud of who they are and are open to their recovery. At the beginning I told you about the 23 million who struggled with addiction. Half of the people who received treatment managed to stay sober. In Phoenix, three-quarters of the people who attend our programming remain sober. (Applause) (Applause ends) And what's also really surprising is that when we asked people who relapsed if they had come back, over 90% said yes and that they would come back without any feeling of shame, guilt or worry. .

And that's huge, because addictions are chronic, recurring conditions. And if we can get people back, we can at least minimize the damage that has been done and get them back on track and moving forward. That's why we call it a great victory. We also believe that recovery is more than just sobriety. And our participants tell us that by participating in Phoenix, they are actually seeing benefits. To your physical health. Your mental health. And your quality of life. (Applause) (Applause ends) While I was part of Phoenix Multisport, I learned three really important things about recovery. And the first is that people matter.

Working on recovery alone is really difficult. But when you do it together, everything becomes much easier. Second, fun matters! Because if you don't have fun today, you don't see joy, you have no hope for tomorrow. And that brings me to my third point. Tomorrow matters. If we can imagine a better tomorrow and have hope for our future, and see a bright tomorrow, dealing with the crap we have to deal with today will be a lot easier. Together, these three things are creating a tipping point where living sober just gets a little easier. It's a little more accessible.

It is valued. And before I leave tonight, I have one last thing because I think this is really important for recovery or beyond, and that is that people are not their illness. It doesn't matter if they struggle with addiction, diabetes, depression or cancer. It's a part of who they are. That's all. And when we tell someone struggling with addiction that they are an addict or a drug addict, what we are telling them is that it is their illness. What I want you to think: It's actually the person sitting next to you. She is your mother and she is your brother and she is your sister.

She is your cousin, she is your best friend, she is you. They are also teachers and mentors. They are engineers. They are doctors. They are lawyers. They are even presidents. So you remember Anna? While waiting to enter that treatment program, she came to Phoenix Multisport every day. I had lunch with Anna a couple of weeks ago. She has been sober for five years. (Applause) (Applause ends) Anna was and always will be more than her illness. And you may not agree with the people I work with at Phoenix Multisport, but I must tell you that they are not just alcoholics, drunks, drunks, addicts and drug addicts.

They are much more. Thank you. (Applause)