Paul Merson – the ex Arsenal, Villa and England footballer turned Soccer Saturday regular has battled issues for years with drink, drugs and gambling, which he considers to be the cruellest of the lot.

Paul is currently clean and doing his bit to help others – not least through his new book Hooked: Addiction and the Long Road to Recovery.

It’s a stark and at times brutal account of the damage addiction can reek, and in this episode we talk about what Paul has learnt along that long road to recovery. From learning not to identify with the addictive voice in your head, to learning to sit with uncomfortable thoughts and feelings – as well as the importance of opening up and talking about your problems.

Addiction affects so many people – so if you know someone who might benefit from listening to this conversation please do share it with them.

If you are new to the show and want to learn more about addiction, I’d suggest listening to my earlier episode with Tony Adams – founder of the sporting chance clinic, or I’d recommend my conversation with Dr Russ Harris – who shares powerful techniques any of us can use to relate to difficult thoughts and feelings like anxiety or anger in a more skillful and effective way

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on twitter https://twitter.com/simonmundie

And for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from three years and more than 150 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com

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Tony Adams: https://play.acast.com/s/dont-tell-me-the-score-with-simon-mundie/addiction-tonyadams

Dr. Russ Harris on managing uncomfortable thoughts and feelings: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/dont-tell-me-the-score-life-lessons-from-sport-and-beyond/id1564063336?i=1000524427763

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.