About this episode

Ted Beauchaine shares his harrowing journey through addiction and recovery, detailing his struggles with alcohol, cocaine, and bipolar disorder.

In this episode of Get a Grip Podcast , Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Ted Beauchaine for one of the most unbelievable addiction and recovery stories we've ever heard. Ted takes us back to a childhood spent moving around the country, attending nine different schools before reaching high school, and eventually discovering alcohol. His first experience with drinking quickly spiraled when he consumed half a fifth of 151-proof alcohol—and the consequences that followed were only the beginning. Despite maintaining good grades and building an impressive academic career, Ted's drinking continued to escalate. Cocaine eventually entered the picture, followed by his first experience freebasing cocaine, blackouts, and a serious car accident in Oregon. After his first treatment experience, Ted managed to stay clean for 14 years. But eventually, the underlying issues he hadn't fully understood began catching up with him. Ted discusses living with bipolar disorder without realizing it, the events that led to his relapse, and how cocaine and crack eventually took over his life. Ted describes interviewing at UC Berkeley, getting high afterward, buying crack from a homeless person in…

People in this episode

Hosts: Louis Essig, Aaron Garnes

Guest: Ted Beauchaine

Topics covered

• addiction
• recovery
• mental health
• bipolar disorder
• personal story
• substance abuse

Keywords

• addiction
• recovery
• bipolar disorder
• cocaine
• crack
• personal story
• UC Berkeley
• intervention
• substance abuse

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: UC Berkeley, Long Island

Places: San Francisco, Tenderloin, Oregon

More episodes of Get a Grip Podcast

• I Got High on My Grandma’s Fentanyl Patches | Ep 210 · September 9, 2026 · 1h 12m
• How I Wenat From Crack in High School to a Full-Blown Heroin & Meth Addict | Ep 209 · September 6, 2026 · 1h 10m
• My Mom Introduced Me to Cocaine… Then I Got Hooked on Perc 30s | Ep 208 · September 4, 2026 · 2h 55m
• I Was Prescribed Xanax at 14… Then Fentanyl & Xylazine Destroyed My Life | Ep 207 · September 2, 2026 · 1h 16m
• How Hiding My Sexuality Kept Me Shooting Oxy and Heroin Until I Finally Came Out | Ep 205 · August 28, 2026 · 2h 5m
• How I Went From Fighting in Afghanistan to Fighting a 7OH Addiction | Ep 204 · August 26, 2026 · 1h 46m

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Get a Grip Podcast podcast page.