We speak a lot on this podcast about the importance of looking after your mental health and wellbeing. We are strong advocates of normalising discussions about stress, trauma, and mental health injuries so that we can better understand and address them and the myriad of struggles they can bring to people’s lives, including addiction. Our guest today knows all too well what this can do to a person and how easily someone who is seemingly at the top of their game can rabbit hole into the painful world of addiction.

For three decades, Eilene Zimmerman has written about business, technology and social issues for a wide array of national magazines and newspapers. She was a columnist for The New York Times Sunday Business section for six years and since 2004 has been a regular contributor to the newspaper. In September 2020, she completed a master’s degree in social work.

Eilene joins Cindy and guest host Issie Carrol to discuss her book "Smacked: A Story of White-Collar Ambition, Addiction and Tragedy" which tells the story of her affluent, successful lawyer ex-husband Peter's descent into the world of substance abuse. We speak at depth about her and her family's story, coping with grief and how her loss led her to discover the hidden world of white-collar addiction. We also discuss how COVID has accelerated this problem.

If you have been affected by any of the issues touched upon in this episode here are some resources to find support in the UK and the United States:

SMART Recovery UK:
https://smartrecovery.org.uk/

Narcotics Anonymous:
https://ukna.org/

DrugFAM:
https://www.drugfam.co.uk/

The Director of Lawyers Assistance Programs in the US:
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/lawyer_assistance/resources/lap_programs_by_state/

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA) helpline (US government):
https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline

Buy Eilene's book "Smacked: A Story of White-Collar Ambition, Addiction and Tragedy" here

Access Eilene's  Guardian article "Why professionals, depressed and anxious are developing addictions during COVID"

Access the NY Times article "The Lawyer, the Addict"

Follow Eilene on LinkedIn and Facebook and visit her website

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