I Was a Notre Dame Professor Smoking $800 of Crack Every Day | Ep 206

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 San Francisco's Tenderloin, and ending up in Section 8 housing. He received a job offer from Berkeley—but before he could start, his family staged an intervention.

He later accepted a position in Long Island and drove for four days while drunk, scoring crack along the way. He experienced severe alcohol withdrawal, including hallucinations, and eventually ended up in a psychiatric ward.

Ted continued moving around the country, eventually landing in Ohio, where his crack addiction became even worse. At one point, despite earning $180,000 a year, he found himself broke and living in a one-bedroom apartment.

Ted received a job offer from Notre Dame, but his addiction followed him. He describes spending enormous amounts of money on crack, smoking throughout his workday, and even using between classes. His addiction ultimately consumed his career, his finances, and nearly every part of his life.

He also opens up about trying to start a family while struggling with addiction, caring for a premature baby while still using crack, and the devastating moment when his career finally came to an end.

Today, Ted works in the treatment and recovery field, using his experiences to help others while reflecting on why he can no longer return to his former career as a professor.

This is an extraordinary story about addiction, academia, mental health, relapse, success, failure, and ultimately finding a new purpose.

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