Break The Chain Podcast James Dear

In this episode, I speak with Rachel Stonehouse, an Investigative Reporter and documentary producer for BBC News and formerly for BBC NewsBeat. She recently produced and presented the documentary ‘Young and Addicted: Generation Ketamine” which took a graphic look at the impacts of recreational ketamine use.

For anyone who doesn’t know,

Ketamine is a medical drug that has been used since the 70’s. It is safe in small doses and is effective in assisting the treatment of some mental health conditions. Ketamine is also popular as an illicit drug in the UK, Europe, North America, and many countries in Asia and is growing in popularity in Australia and New Zealand.

As stated in the documentary, Government figures have shown that Ketamine addiction has more than quadrupled since 2016 in England and Wales. What may not yet be common knowledge is that the drug has serious health consequences.

Rachel gives of background about herself and how she ended up involved in the documentary. She tells us what inspired her to specifically make a documentary about ketamine addiction. She shares insights from her experience and how this has changed her views of the drug.

She discusses insights from people she spoke to with lived experience as well as experts. She tells us the ways that she hopes the documentary will contribute to public understanding and awareness. Including specific policy or societal changes, she hopes the documentary will inspire regarding drug education, treatment accessibility, or harm reduction efforts.

The links that we mentioned in this episode were:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/actionline/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Ketamineaddiction/

Learn more about us at breakthechain.net

In this interview, Rachel Stonehouse & James Dear were featured on BBC 5 Live with Stephen Nolan, following the release of the documentary 'Young & Addicted: Generation Ketamine. James was asked to share his experience as a ketamine addict as well as give some brief advice for anyone who may be addicted or considering using the drug for the first time.



The full documentary can be watched in the UK via the link below. A shorter version is due to be released to YouTube.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001yp76

In this episode, I speak with Joe Ramsden,

Two years ago, on the very day of this year's London Marathon, Joe found himself hospitalized for the first time amidst a series of visits, gripped by the debilitating symptoms of MS. Struggling to walk or see, and plagued by relentless bouts of vomiting upon attempting to open his eyes, Joe's condition left medical professionals perplexed.

After a harrowing ordeal, he was finally diagnosed with a severe form of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Joe suffered two relapses but Joe made his wellbeing and lifestyle balance a priority. He made a recovery and decided to run the London Marathon with a 360-degree camera strapped to him to raise money for two fantastic charities, The MS Society and Mind.

All links to follow Joe, donate, and show him your support on social media can be found via the link below.

linktr.ee/readysteady_joe

In this episode, I speak to a truly inspiring woman, Stephanie Crean.

We do not speak much about the devastating events that shaped her life due to their heinous nature and the effects that they have left on her family and community. When Stephanie was just 2 years old, 4 men were ordered to murder her father. The first time they arrived at their house her was holding Stephanie in his arms, she was just 2 years old at the time. They were ordered to return and kill her even if he was holding his 2-year-old daughter. When he returned to the door he was not holding Stephanie and was tragically murdered.

By the estimations of many these acts were unforgivable, however, after seeing the suffering that the events of the past were bringing to family and community she realised, on a deep level, that she had to make a change. In the morning, in the early hours, she wrote a letter addressed to the 4 men who had killed her father (Chris Crean). In that letter, Stephanie expresses complete and compassionate forgiveness for these men – “so that you may have peace and I too. So that our families may have peace, and so that the community may have peace also. So that the nation may have peace, because that is what is right.”

There was a recent movie made about the killing of her father titled “Resolve”.

Her letter is deeply moving and has affected the lives of many people. I highly recommend reading it. You can read the letter on her blog, My Life's Journey, by clicking the link below:
https://www.facebook.com/mylifejourneyblog/posts/1967749856837704



You can watch the full movie about her father's story on YouTube by clicking the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSnU43PYYjE&t=1349s

Are you addicted to alcohol or substances and finally ready to do something about it but don't know where to start?   

Then this episode is for you.  I talk to Marek Hyde a recovering addict who has worked in the addiction field for 6 years. We are aware that the path to sobriety can be an overwhelming one. This is why we wanted to share with you some of the different options that you have in the United Kingdom whether you have access to money and other resources or not.   



Some of the different options that we discuss are,  

-The NHS route 

-Checking in with a GP 

-Local addiction services 

-The importance of finding an advocate 

-Alcoholic Anonymous/Narcotics Anonymous 

-Seeing a counsellor  



Some of the services mentioned were,  

-Carpenters Arms 

-Loughborough https://www.carpenters-arms.org/  

-Betels https://www.betel.uk/  

-Jericho house https://www.jerichosociety.org.uk/location/derby/   

-Guide to free addiction helplines https://www.lifeworkscommunity.com/addiction-treatment/guide-to-uk-free-addiction-helplines  



Useful contacts 

https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/recreational-drugs-alcohol-and-addiction/drug-and-alcohol-addiction-useful-contacts/

What does it mean to be a man? Where do we get ideas about what that means?   

In this episode, I was joined by retired muay Thai champion and mental health advocate Richie hardcore to explore this idea amongst some other topics such as mental health and addiction. Richie is also an educator and public speaker who works in family and sexual violence prevention, and fitness. He also spent 6 years working in drug harm prevention.  

Richie stated that he was a sensitive kid that liked reading books but fighting at school made him cool. Being masculine also made him feel strong and cool but he said that he was fortunate enough to be steered away from that path and didn't turn to gangs and violence like his friends. He credited a lot of this to his passion for martial arts and the sober culture of the straight-edge hardcore scene.  

Richie shares his life story then we dive deep into ideas surrounding masculinity from both a sociological and spiritual perspective. Finally, Richie tells us about his battle with depression and suicidal ideation and how he pulled himself out of that dark place.   

I really enjoyed this conversation. Richie does some fantastic work, please check him out.   

https://www.richiehardcore.com/podcast https://www.facebook.com/richie.hardcore 

https://www.instagram.com/richiehardcore/?fbclid=IwAR2RQyyoQsg7S96MDvqhmBmE0aDmgQzgOMctup7CY7xhK5t788RXyOMyZFc