[Music] [On-screen text] Ferdinando Robinson Jr., Different Stories, Same Problem
[Interviewer] Ferdinando, welcome to the Same Problem series. Thank you so much for sitting down with me today.
[Ferdinando] Appreciate it. I'm glad to be here.
[Interviewer] Something I'd like to ask, when someone is struggling with addiction, I think a lot of us on the outside of that problem, we have a lot of preconceived notions. What are some things that we don't know about addiction?
[Ferdinando] It's different for everybody. Most of it, from what I've seen is, it's rooted in trauma, right? And because of these traumatic experiences, this, this drama that has happened to us, we grow up with it. The reason people go to using and gambling is because they want to feel better. So that's what you do. You either drink, you pick up, or you gamble.
[Interviewer] And were you exposed to addiction, or were you around individuals who struggled with addiction in your life?
[Ferdindando] Yes, I've seen it growing up, right? I found out that this was rooted in my family all the way back to my grandfather. My grandfather? Raging alcoholic, right? Very, very violent, you know, and, and they always compared me with him. I grew up as it was normal, right?
[Interviewer] So if you don't know any different.
[Ferdindando] Right, right. Then, of course, when I became an adult, my trauma started to bubble up. And now I want to be numb. And it started out with, of course, the alcohol. And then it moves to cocaine, and then moved into crack.
[Interviewer] What are some of the ways that problem gambling surfaced for you?
[Ferdinando] I found out about scratch tickets, I found out about the lottery and all of that, and I literally, I just did it in order to support my substance use, right? And that was go hand in hand for me.
It's beginning to get so common that it's woven now in our culture. You go to school, and they do the raffles, right? It's a form of gambling. The church lady had bingo, right? That's, that's a form of gambling. It's social gambling.
[Interviewer] And what was the moment that you decided you wanted to do something about it? You wanted to seek recovery?
[Ferdinando] Part of my story is, is that I was a firefighter. I was working for the fire department for approximately about six years. But the fifth year, I picked up, and I knew I was in trouble. I knew I was in trouble because I got together with other firefighters. We pool our money, you know, we had a huge amount of drugs. And then after that, you know, I, I started to, I eventually lost, my lost my career. They asked me to resign.
[Interviewer] And what did that, was there a sense of relief when you found recovery?
[Ferdinando] Oh, yeah. Absolutely. And, and ever since then, ever since I came, you know, things have been 100% better, you know? And the key for my recovery is that I had to learn how to ask for help. Now, instead of my family avoiding me, now my family talks to me. Before, they couldn't even trust me to be in their house, and now they are asking me to help them with different things.
I've always prayed that I would be the one who’d break the addiction that's going on in my family. I feel empowered because of it. I know that my recovery is working. It's like evidence. So I feel that my family is, is literally being restored right in front of my eyes.
[Interviewer] Ferdinando, thank you so much for your time today. I really appreciate you coming on and sharing all that you have. It takes a lot of courage, and thank you.
[Ferdinando] You're welcome. I hope to be able to do this again. Thank you for the invitation.
[Music] [On-screen text] Drugs. Alcohol. Gambling. Different stories, same problem. Learn more at mass.gov/ProblemGambling
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