Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of suicide, grief, addiction, mental health challenges, and other sensitive topics. Listener discretion is advised. He didn’t think he’d make it to 26. By then, Patrick Casale had already lost his stepmother to cancer, his best friend to suicide and himself to gambling addiction, shame, and emotional paralysis. But rock bottom didn’t end his story, it unraveled the one he’d been trying to survive: the story where masking pain and pretending to be “fine” was the only way to belong. In this unflinching episode, Patrick shares the moments that nearly ended him and the ones that slowly rebuilt him. From devastating loss to the weight of silence, we explore how grief, addiction, and years of emotional shutdown intersected with a late-in-life AuDHD (Autism + ADHD) diagnosis that finally explained what nothing else could. For the first time, he began to see his struggles not as personal failures, but misunderstood wiring in a world that never made room for difference. This isn’t just a recovery story it’s a blueprint for self-acceptance, for healing without shame, and for creating a life that doesn’t require an escape plan. In This Episode We Cover: Grief, trauma & emotional collapse after losing his stepmom and best friendGambling addiction and the illusion of controlLiving undiagnosed: the cost of masking with late-in-life AuDHDReframing “brokenness” as misunderstood neurodivergenceHow therapy, community, and radical honesty saved his life __________________ Watch/Listen/Subscribe to the Show: ↳ YouTube ↳ Apple Podcast ↳ Spotify ↳ Instagram ↳ Tiktok ↳ Facebook __________________ Patrick Custer - Host ↳ Instagram: @thepatrickcuster ↳ TikTok: @thepatrickcuster ↳ YouTube: @thepatrickcuster ↳ Facebook: @thepatrickcuster ↳ Website: linktr.ee/patrickcuster Patrick Casale - Guest ↳ Insta: @patrick.casale ↳ Facebook: @CasaleCoaching ↳ Tiktok: @patrickcasale ↳ Website: www.allthingspractice.com __________________ Promises Behavioral Health – Treatment for addiction, mental health/trauma: ↳ Admissions: (888) 648-4098 ↳ Insta: @promises_bh ↳ URL: www.promisesbehavioralhealth.com Mental Health America: ↳ URL: www.mhanational.org __________________ About Patrick Casale: Patrick Casale is not only an AuDHD licensed Mental Health & Addiction Therapist and a group practice owner but also a Entrepreneur Coach & Strategist for Neurodivergent Business Owners. With experience in both the clinical mental health world and the business world, he has helped thousands of mental health therapists around the United States leave their agencies behind and create their ideal private practices. "I’ve worked in the helping profession since 2008, and, like many therapists, I started my career in a community mental health job where instead of feeling fulfilled, I felt overworked, burnt out, taken for granted, and underappreciated. I knew I wanted out but feared the uncertainty of private practice, because, at the time, I had no f*****g clue how to start a business. After all, most people who go into the helping profession don’t have a lot of business training, if any at all. After a lot of work, some struggles, and trial-and-error, I successfully launched my private practice. Then a couple of years after that, I launched a thriving group practice. I am truly passionate about empowering therapists to take the steps they need to create more successful lives and careers while working flexible hours, taking more vacations, and using their precious clinical skills effectively. When it comes to being a successful private practice and small business owner, I’ve already been there and done that, so now I help other therapists all over the United States save time, skip the guesswork, and start seeing clients sooner with their own private practices."
