Jess Keefe - Sprinting towards life after loss

Jess Keefe is a writer, editor, and advocate. Her essays have been published by Teen Vogue, HuffPost, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Runner's World, and more. She currently lives in Richmond, Virginia and is the author of Thirty-Thousand Steps: A Memoir of Sprinting Toward Life After Loss.

After Jess ended things with her long-term boyfriend, she moved in with her brother Matt in hopes that family could help her not only heal from the break-up but also evolve into a healthy adult. But that fantasy ended when Matt’s heroin addiction came roaring back after lying dormant for years, leading to a fatal overdose on a warm October night.

In the year that followed Matt’s death, Jess lived alone for the first time in her life while struggling with a loose, bereaved mind. She became obsessed with what happened to her brother and how things could have been different. She dove into research about addiction and drugs. She excavated their shared childhood and young adulthood for clues.

During this time, she was also learning how to become a distance runner. Jess pushed her body to its limits to quiet the chaos in my mind. After losing Matt, she knew she’d never be the same.

Thirty-Thousand Steps is her powerful and transformative memoir that interweaves the author’s obsessive training to becoming a distance runner, along with her singular, focused research into the science of addiction in the shadow of grief after the death of her brother. In this podcast:

  • The issues related to high overdose rates in the US.

  • Why early intervention is important to prevent drug abuse.

  • Jess own experiences with drug abuse.

  • Why traditional forms of therapy, such as the Twelve Steps, are only effective for those who actively consent and want to participate.

  • The different forms of talk therapy and medication that can be used to treat addiction.

  • Why additional support such as career counselling and housing assistance is also important for sustained recovery.

  • Why the current healthcare system is not well-equipped to handle addiction treatment.

 You can find out more about Jess at jesskeefe.com

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