June 2025
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Kurt Metscher is a 36-year-old family law attorney in Austin. His addiction challenges started in high school, first with marijuana, then amphetamines. After an incident in college, he entered treatment. Initially planning to return to his addiction once his probation was over, he gradually found himself enjoying the sober way of life.
He wants people, particularly law firms and partners, to understand that addiction is not a moral failing and that a lawyer in recovery is perhaps better equipped to handle the stressors of the profession than a lawyer who has never struggled with addiction.
Find an AA meeting: https://austinaa.org/meetings/
From Slate, “Why Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Death Is So Scary”: “One truism of addiction science is that long-term abuse rewires your brain and changes its chemistry, which is why triggers (or “associated stimuli,” in scientific parlance) are major risk factors for relapse. But these changes can be reversed over time. Walking past the apartment where my dealer used to live didn’t make me want to score; it made me feel as if I was in a phantasmagoria of two crosshatched worlds—but I was the only person who could see both realities. None of my colleagues at MIT, no one in the science writing community I lean on for professional advice and support, none of the people who’ve worked on my books has ever seen me slip into that other world.” https://slate.com/technology/2014/02/philip-seymour-hoffmans-drug-death-the-science-of-addiction-recovery-and-relapse.html