Christmas Spiraled | Here's What Actually Helped

Christmas Spiraled | Here's What Actually Helped

From Balanced Ambition by Matt Southam

December 23, 2025 · 50 min

About this episode

Ria shares her powerful journey through cancer, addiction, and ADHD, revealing how she learned to enjoy Christmas sober and self-aware.

In this raw and powerful episode, Ria opens up about her journey through cancer, alcohol addiction, ADHD, and the struggle to survive the holiday season. With honesty, humour and heart, she shares what helped her finally enjoy Christmas—sober, self-aware and stronger than ever. If you’ve ever found Christmas overwhelming, or felt like you were just surviving not celebrating, this episode will resonate deeply. 👇 Timestamps: 00:00 – “Last Christmas I was in a dark place…” 01:10 – A rare cancer diagnosis days after giving birth 06:53 – The moment everything changed 12:29 – Giving up alcohol after years of self-medication 16:49 – Sober, but Christmas brought new challenges 20:00 – Living with a noisy ADHD brain 22:51 – The hardest Christmas and asking for help 36:10 – Coping with dopamine cravings without booze 41:35 – Parenting neurodiverse kids during the holidays 45:00 – Breaking the cycle: ADHD through generations 47:10 – “This is why I’ll always share my story” ❤️ Like, comment and share if Ria’s story resonates – and don’t forget to subscribe for more honest conversations.

People in this episode

Host: Matt Southam

Guest: Ria

Topics covered

  • cancer journey
  • alcohol addiction
  • ADHD
  • holiday challenges
  • mental health
  • self-awareness
  • parenting

Keywords

  • cancer
  • alcohol addiction
  • ADHD
  • Christmas
  • mental health
  • self-care
  • parenting
  • holidays
  • dopamine cravings
  • neurodiversity

More episodes of Balanced Ambition

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Balanced Ambition podcast page.