Recoverycast: Mental Health & Addiction Recovery Stories

From partying on billionaire yachts with $0.64 in her bank account to finding peace in sobriety, model and poet Kitty Lever shares her raw story. Known to over half a million followers for her viral poetry and soccer in heels, Kitty opens up for the first time about the dark reality hiding behind luxury party culture, toxic environments, and substance misuse. 
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In this vulnerable episode of Recoverycast, Kitty sits down with host Brittani Baynard to unpack her journey from a childhood moving fifteen times as a military brat and playing Division 1 college soccer to losing her identity and battling body image issues fueled by unprescribed Adderall use. Seeking validation, she entered the glamorous yet predatory VIP nightlife circuits of New York, Miami, and Tulum. Behind the curated Instagram photos lay an underworld of binge drinking, illicit substances like tuci, molly, and ketamine, and harrowing moments where survival hung by a thread. 
Kitty describes the dangerous cycle of the "fun monster"—where just one drink stripped away her inhibitions and led to days of endless chasing. After a painful wake-up call at her partner's art show, she chose radical honesty and walked away from the party lifestyle for good. Guided by Allen Carr’s quit drinking philosophy, she embraced life without alcohol, shedding the chameleon persona to step into authentic creative freedom. 
Now celebrating over 400 days sober, Kitty has channeled her healing into her debut poetry book, Whiskers of a Kitten, and an upcoming short film exposing nightlife illusions. If Kitty’s story inspired you, please like, subscribe, and share this episode. Leave a comment below with your favorite takeaway or your own recovery experience—you never have to walk this path alone.
⏱️ Chapters:
00:00 – Intro 
00:58 – Welcome Kitty Lever 
02:50 – Military Upbringing & Finding Identity in Soccer 
12:06 – College D1 Sports, Identity Crisis & Adderall Misuse 
21:15 – The Illusion of VIP Nightlife & Modeling Pressures 
24:29 – Surviving Tulum: The Dark Side of Party Circuits 
33:45 – Dopamine Seeking, Ketamine, & The "Fun Monster" 
42:44 – The Turning Point: Choosing Sobriety for Love & The Future 
50:45 – Navigating Relationships & Social Life Without Alcohol 
55:02 – Creative Rebirth, "Whiskers of a Kitten," & Healing 
❓ Questions the Video Answers:
How does frequent relocation in childhood affect identity and mental health? 
Why does leaving college athletics trigger an identity crisis? 
What are the dangers and warning signs of Adderall misuse for weight loss? 
What really happens behind the scenes of VIP nightlife and modeling party circuits? 
Why are promoter-funded trips to places like Tulum dangerous for young women? 
What psychological wounds drive the desire for validation from wealthy or famous people? 
What is "tuci" and why is the party drug scene so hazardous? 
How does binge drinking fuel impulsive, high-risk behavior and the "fun monster" persona? 
How does substance misuse impact romantic relationships and emotional intimacy? 
What is the wake-up call that leads someone to choose long-term sobriety? 
How does Allen Carr’s method help people stop drinking alcohol? 
How do you handle friendships and social pressure after giving up alcohol? 
Is it possible to travel and take vacations sober without feeling left out? 
How does choosing sobriety foster authentic creativity and purpose? 
#Sobriety #AddictionRecovery #MentalHealth

Film and TV composer Christopher French shares how drinking and drug use at age 11 led to homelessness, juvenile hall, and a behavior modification camp in Mexico, and how a tearful drive at 23 showed him a third option: recovery.

Find mental health and addiction treatment near you: https://recovery.com/

Christopher joins host Brittani Baynard on Recoverycast to talk about growing up in a loving Bay Area home while always feeling separate from everyone else. He started drinking and using drugs at 11 or 12, was using psychedelics and harder narcotics by eighth grade, and was soon skipping school, selling his parents' belongings, and sleeping on park benches around Santa Cruz at 15. After running from a rehab his parents had arranged, he was arrested at 17 and sent to juvenile hall, where a late night in a solitary cell gave him his first moment of clarity. Instead of California Youth Authority, he was sent to an unregulated behavior modification program in Mexico, and his father eventually had to get him out.

Even while making a record in Vancouver and chasing the music career he'd wanted since he got his first guitar, Christopher was miserable, woke up to whiskey every day, and had thoughts of ending his life. At 23, driving home to LA after a party, he broke down crying at the idea of a third option: asking for help. The next morning he googled how to get help in LA, walked to a nearby support group meeting, and found an outstretched hand that kept him there. He has been sober since Groundhog Day 2007. He talks about letting go of shame, facing the damage he'd caused, holding on to healthy fear, and staying sober on his first tour after getting sober. Today, 19 years into addiction recovery, he is married with two kids, works as a film and television composer, and is launching a YouTube channel called Channel Zero. His message is hopeful: change is going to happen either way, and you can choose to be part of it.

If Christopher's story inspired you, please like, subscribe, share, and leave a comment below. Subscribe to Recoverycast for more powerful sobriety stories, and share this episode with someone who needs to see their own third option today.

⏱️ Chapters:

00:00 – Intro

00:40 – Welcome Christopher French

01:00 – Feeling Separate & First Drinks at 11

04:00 – Dropping Out & Sleeping on Park Benches

07:20 – Juvenile Hall & A Moment of Clarity

10:20 – A Behavior Modification Camp in Mexico

12:20 – Music Dreams That Couldn't Save Him

15:40 – A Tearful Drive & The Third Option

17:00 – Googling Help & An Outstretched Hand

25:40 – Sober Parties, Touring & Healthy Fear

29:40 – Fatherhood, Film Scoring & Embracing Change

❓ Questions the Video Answers:

How does feeling like an outsider as a child lead to early drug and alcohol use?
What are the warning signs of substance use in a young teenager?
How can parents set boundaries with a teen who is using drugs?
What is it like to be sent to juvenile hall at 17 for drug-related crimes?
What were behavior modification camps for troubled teens really like?
Can a dream career like music save you from addiction?
What does a moment of clarity in addiction feel like?
How do you find help for addiction when you don't know where to start?
What happens at your first recovery support group meeting?
How do you sleep without alcohol in early sobriety?
How can a musician stay sober while touring bars and clubs?
Why is accepting that change is inevitable important in recovery?

#AddictionRecovery #SobrietyStories #TeenSubstanceUse

Dance Gavin Dance founding drummer Matt Mingus spent 17 years drinking and using cocaine until he was pulled off his own stage in Detroit in 2021. Today he tours sober with a band that has left drinking behind.

Find mental health and addiction treatment near you: https://recovery.com/

Matt joins host Brittani Baynard on Recoverycast to discuss how drums and alcohol entered his life the same year: at nine, he heard his school band play the James Bond theme and started drinking and smoking pot with older skateboarders. Caught selling pot at school in eighth grade, he was placed in outpatient rehab at 12, where he lived a double life before finally getting two years sober as a teen. Co-founding Dance Gavin Dance in Sacramento at 17, he decided to try controlled drinking, and a decade of van tours and nightly parties followed. Cocaine use that began around 18 turned into psychosis during the COVID lockdown, while drinking on depression medication brought blackouts and a cycle of hiding his use from his wife.

After a days-long bender on Xanax, ketamine, and mushrooms, Matt couldn't play at a sold-out headline show at Detroit's Masonic Temple, and his drum tech finished the set and the tour. That gift of desperation led his manager to MusiCares, which found him a treatment bed the next day at a 30-day program in Pasadena. Matt shares how accountability, an exit plan, connecting with people in recovery, and marriage counseling built his sobriety, and how he leaned on those tools when a bandmate died of an overdose when Matt was six months sober. Nearly five years into addiction recovery, he tours with a band where no one drinks, writes music that comes quicker and feels more present, and reminds anyone afraid of getting sober that you don't have to do this alone.

If Matt's story inspired you, please like, subscribe, share, and leave a comment below with your biggest takeaway. Subscribe to Recoverycast for more powerful sobriety stories every week.

⏱️ Chapters:

00:00 – Intro

02:40 – Welcome Matt Mingus

03:20 – Drinking & Smoking Pot at Age 9

05:00 – Outpatient Rehab at 12 & A Double Life

07:20 – Starting Dance Gavin Dance & Controlled Drinking

11:40 – Van Tours, Nightly Partying & Playing Drunk

18:40 – COVID Lockdown, Cocaine Psychosis & Blackouts

29:20 – Pulled Off Stage in Detroit

31:20 – MusiCares & 30-Day Treatment in Pasadena

39:20 – Losing a Bandmate to Overdose

43:40 – Touring Sober & An All-Sober Band

❓ Questions the Video Answers:

How does drinking at a very young age affect substance use later in life?
What is outpatient rehab like for a 12-year-old?
Why do people in early recovery try controlled drinking?
How does touring as a musician fuel alcohol and cocaine use?
What does cocaine psychosis feel like?
Is it dangerous to drink alcohol while taking depression medication?
How did the COVID lockdown make substance use worse for musicians?
What is MusiCares and how does it help musicians get into treatment?
How can accountability and an exit plan help you stay sober after rehab?
How do you stay sober after losing a friend to an overdose?
Can you tour as a musician and stay sober?
Does getting sober kill your creativity?

#AddictionRecovery #SobrietyStories #SoberMusicians

Actor and content creator Horace Gold opens up about eight years of alcohol dependency, the trap of California sober, and the friend who stayed by his side when he hit bottom at 26.
Find mental health and addiction treatment near you: https://recovery.com/
Horace Gold joins Sam Roberts on Recoverycast to talk about growing up as the youngest of six homeschooled kids in a conservative Christian home in South Central Los Angeles, where an early fear of abandonment took root. He got drunk for the first time at 15 at a Hermosa Beach party. At 18 his high school friends left, he got a fake ID, and he was drinking two bottles of wine by 2 p.m. After American Idol in 2011, Berklee College of Music in Boston and songwriting industry parties in LA, Horace used alcohol and weed to fill the gap between his dreams and reality. That led to blackouts, grabbing another singer's microphone mid-show, and cutting off anyone who saw him drunk. He also talks about religious trauma, accepting his sexuality, and writing the song and short film Poison as a love letter to alcohol while he was still drinking.
After losing a restaurant job in 2019, Horace drank every day for months, a stretch that ended in a mental health crisis and a hospital stay. His friend Shannon saw him at his worst and stayed, and another friend invited him to a meeting. On one last New Year's Eve the drinks stopped working. On January 1, 2020, he walked into a place where sober people meet, and he has stayed sober ever since. Now in his seventh year of sobriety, Horace leans on community, therapy, a spiritual advisor and a higher power. He has built a career as an actor and content creator and is making music again. His sober nights out, with Red Bull on a rooftop and Diet Coke until 5 a.m., show that addiction recovery can bring back freedom, fun and childlike joy.
If Horace's story inspired you, please like, subscribe, share, and leave a comment below with your biggest takeaway. Share this episode with anyone who needs to hear that a sober life can be a joyful one.
⏱️ Chapters:
00:00 – Intro
02:40 – Welcome Horace Gold
03:20 – Homeschooled in South Central LA & Fear of Abandonment
06:40 – Friends Leave & Heavy Drinking at 18
08:40 – American Idol, Berklee & Music Industry Heartbreak
14:00 – Blackouts & Grabbing a Singer's Mic
22:00 – Cutting People Off & The Friend Who Stayed
29:20 – Poison: A Love Letter to Alcohol
35:20 – Rock Bottom & The Last Drink
42:00 – Handling Problems in Long-Term Sobriety
45:00 – Partying Sober & Reclaiming Childlike Joy
❓ Questions the Video Answers:
1. What is California sober and why can it keep people stuck?
2. How does a childhood fear of abandonment fuel alcohol dependency?
3. Why does drinking often escalate after high school friends move away?
4. How can disappointment in a music career lead to heavier drinking?
5. What does a blackout look like, and when is it a sign of an alcohol problem?
6. Why do people in active addiction cut off friends who see them drunk?
7. How can one loyal friend help someone hit a turning point in recovery?
8. Can making art about alcohol help you see your own drinking problem?
9. How do religious trauma and hiding your sexuality affect substance use?
10. How do you handle problems and fear without drinking in long-term sobriety?
11. Can you still go out and party after getting sober?
12. What advice would a person in recovery give their younger self?
#AddictionRecovery #SobrietyStories #AlcoholRecovery

Johnny Persón shares how OxyContin, Xanax, and alcohol dependency led to homelessness and a possible six-year prison sentence at 20, and how the 12 steps and therapy helped him build a seven-figure headwear brand.
Find mental health and addiction treatment near you: https://recovery.com/
Johnny joins Brittani on Recoverycast to talk about growing up in Costa Mesa, California, with young punk rock parents and a life built around skateboarding. A week after telling his stepbrother drugs were for losers, he smoked weed for the first time. By 16 he was drinking to fit in at parties and selling weed with $8,000 in a shoebox. When his cousin moved in, a coworker introduced them both to OxyContin, and Johnny hit withdrawal within a week. Xanax, nightly blackouts, and stealing from his mother followed, in a home where several family members were hiding pill use. At 20 he was kicked out and homeless, lost his friend Joey to an overdose, and was arrested after taking money from his mother's safe.
Facing six years in prison and a strike on his record, Johnny talked to his seven-year-old sister on a jail payphone, and for the first time he took responsibility for his life. He asked the guards for help, read the Narcotics Anonymous Basic Text his father brought him, and his mother wrote to the judge asking for mercy. The day after his release he went to his first AA meeting, met his sponsor, and was given a three-year hope chip. He describes six months in rehab, sober living, the young people in AA who showed him sobriety can be fun, and how therapy and 12-step work together changed his life. Now almost 16 years sober, Johnny runs a seven-figure headwear brand named after his sister's birthday, with the tagline Unbreakable Resilience. His addiction recovery story is proof that it is never too late for redemption.
If Johnny's story inspired you, please like, subscribe, and share, and leave a comment below with your biggest takeaway to help someone find the hope they deserve!
⏱️ Chapters:
00:00 – Intro
02:40 – Welcome Johnny Persón
03:40 – Punk Rock Parents & Costa Mesa Skate Culture
07:00 – Peer Pressure & a First High in Fifth Grade
13:00 – Selling Weed & an $8,000 Shoebox at 16
18:40 – Trying OxyContin & a Household on Pills
27:00 – Xanax Bars, Blackouts & Stealing to Use
36:40 – Homelessness & Losing a Friend to Overdose
43:20 – Facing 6 Years in Prison & a Sister's Plea
52:00 – First AA Meeting, a Hope Chip & Rehab
1:00:40 – Building a Seven-Figure Hat Brand in Sobriety
❓ Questions the Video Answers:
1. How can smoking weed as a kid lead to opioid dependency as a teenager?
2. What does opiate withdrawal feel like the first time?
3. How does peer pressure from older family members affect early substance use?
4. Why do some people black out every time they drink?
5. What happens when several family members are hiding pill use in the same household?
6. How does losing a friend to an overdose affect someone in active addiction?
7. Can jail be a turning point for getting sober?
8. How can a family member's words motivate someone to finally ask for help?
9. What should you expect at your first AA meeting after getting out of jail?
10. What is a sponsor and how do you get one in a 12-step program?
11. Is it okay to go to therapy while working the 12 steps?
12. How can people in recovery channel their drive into building a successful business?
#AddictionRecovery #SobrietyStories #OpioidRecovery