Episode: 12 – Substance Use Nostalgia
Title: Substance Use Nostalgia – When “Good Memories” Become Risky Triggers
Podcast: The Support and Kindness Podcast
Episode: 12 – Substance Use Nostalgia
Release Date: Saturday, November 22, 2025
Hosts: Greg (host), with co-hosts Derek, Rich, Liam, and Jay
Episode Summary
In this powerful and honest episode, the team explores “substance use nostalgia” – that pull to look back on past drinking or drug use as if it were all fun, freedom, and connection, while conveniently forgetting the harm and consequences.
Greg and his co-hosts talk about how this kind of nostalgia can quietly become a major relapse trigger, especially when it shows up as:
- A favorite song from your using days
- Old hangouts or people you used to party with
- Photos, objects, or even “art” related to substances
- Emotional upheaval, loneliness, or stress
Each person shares personal examples of nostalgia, cravings, and triggers, along with the tools they use to stay grounded in recovery. The group emphasizes that having memories of using doesn’t mean you’re failing. Cravings and nostalgic thoughts are normal – what matters is how you respond to them.
By the end, listeners walk away with practical strategies (like the “3 R’s” and HALT), reassurance that they’re not alone, and reminders that there is also such a thing as positive nostalgia in recovery.
Key Concepts From Greg
- Substance use nostalgia defined:
- “Substance use nostalgia… is a dangerous distortion of that feeling. It's a longing for the feelings and the experiences associated with drugs, substances, or alcohol, and it's a significant trigger for relapse.”
- It romanticizes the past by:
- Highlighting the highs: euphoria, social connection, escape
- Filtering out the lows: hangovers, withdrawal, embarrassment, consequences
- “It's a mental trap… creating internal conflict between the desire for recovery and the idealized memory of using.”
- Triggers and cravings:
- Triggers are cues that remind the brain of past substance use:
- Internal: thoughts, feelings, body states (HALT: Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired), sadness, anxiety
- External: people, places, paraphernalia, celebrations, and even overconfidence
- “A craving is a temporary wave that fades if you don't give in.”
- Triggers are cues that remind the brain of past substance use:
- The 3 R’s – Immediate internal coping protocol:
- Recognize: “Recognize the feeling for what it is – it's a craving.”
- Remind: “Remind yourself that you don't have to act on it.”
- Remove: “If possible, remove yourself from that situation.”
- On his own triggers (inhalants):
- “Just seeing that canister… I could taste it. I could taste the sensation, I could taste the fluttering in my chest as my heart was speeding up… I could feel that euphoric wave rising up from within me.”
- Greg avoids keeping inhalant products at home and uses a battery-powered blower instead of canned air: “I can't tempt fate.”
- Closing reassurance:
- “If you feel that pull back to the old using days, you're not broken and you're not alone.”
- “A craving is like a wave – it rises and it falls and you don't have to ride it all the way to relapse.”
Key Insights From Rich
- On romanticizing the past:
- “It romanticizes the past… and it can be really dangerous to romanticize former drug use. You're putting yourself back in that position, putting yourself back in that place.”
- He notes how quickly a song, a social memory, or a visual reminder can transport you back to those moments.
- Long-term abstinence and changing relationship to cravings:
- “Having a very, very long time abstinent… 27 years… my cravings are not… I don't view them as threatening, I don't view them as craving. I view them purely as memory, purely as memory of youth and nothing more.”
- Contrast with early recovery:
- “When they were fresh, when I was newly sober, they were aggressive cravings. They were things that I fought against. And that's the path of recovery.”
- Blotter paper and subtle triggers:
- Rich shares a unique example: looking at “blotter paper” art (LSD on paper with designs):
- “I came here to look at artwork… but it very quickly devolved into people discussing strength of dosages and all sorts of… facts about drug on paper, not art on paper, and I had to excuse myself.”
- Rich shares a unique example: looking at “blotter paper” art (LSD on paper with designs):
- Interesting observation:
- Even something that seems harmless or “artistic” can shift into a drug-glorifying conversation.
- He acknowledges he was “probably walking a line in the first place” just by engaging with that content.
- Noteworthy point:
- Rich emphasizes the importance of “focusing on the whole picture” of substance use, not just the highlights:
- “Not just remembering the feeling of the high, but… the ways that it affected you and your life, all aspects of your life.”
- Rich emphasizes the importance of “focusing on the whole picture” of substance use, not just the highlights:
Key Insights From Liam
On mixed memories – joy and pain:
- “I have so many memories that revolve around substance use… The problem… there's a lot of good in those memories b