- Whether it's celebrating a 21st birthday or happy hour with friends out at the bar, alcohol plays a pretty big role in America's social scene.

But there's a sweeping sober movement men are flocking to.

I'm Kylie Ambu and on today's "Mutually Inclusive," we're exploring Grand Rapids' sober scene.

(upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) Pinning down alcohol's role in American society can be difficult.

It intertwines with our culture in multifaceted ways from being a social fixture to marking moments of celebration.

And relationships with alcohol are different for everyone.

Some enjoy it in moderation, some have never had a sip, and others are still exploring what's right for them.

But for many in our community, their story and their relationship with alcohol is more complex.

A 2019 study by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism found just over 14 million adults in the US struggled with alcohol addiction.

Cue the COVID-19 pandemic and by 2021 that number rose to more than 28 million.

And it doesn't just impact adults.

Despite America's drinking age being 21, the institute reported 894,000 teens battling alcohol use disorder that same year.

Now these are big staggering numbers of people who are on a daily fight.

And while there are programs for rehabilitation, data shows only around 10% of people will receive treatment.

And that can be for a multitude of reasons like stigma, financial roadblocks, lack of support.

Here in West Michigan, one group has been working for decades to break down these barriers.

Take a look.

(upbeat music) Being hailed Beer City USA, Grand Rapids is bustling with great bars and entertainment, but inside its downtown among the glow of open signs on breweries and bottle shops, you'll find a pocket on Division Avenue where another light is taking form.

- So we're a Christian-based nonprofit in West Michigan that helps men and now women break the chains of addiction.

- Founded in 1929, Guiding Light has for decades worked alongside community members, historically men battling addiction.

The group calls their work "Recovery Reimagined."

- I kind of think of us as more like a little gritty.

You know, you've walked around, it's a little different than your normal setup of a recovery program, but we have very high expectations.

- [Kylie] While a common length of Stay for rehab programs is 30 days, Guiding Lights men's program is four to six months long and completely free of charge.

In that time, participants will focus on work within themselves, job readiness, and ultimately graduate to a housing program where they'll rebuild a life through recovery.

- So it takes time.

There's some data or physical evidence of the brain taking 90 days to normalize.

And we really want the men and women to really think about, how do I kind of make sure this doesn't happen again?

Another big thing that we offer people is a community.

And most people aren't all that excited sometimes about being associated with a community of addicts or people in recovery.

But over time I think they start to see that no matter what their background is, no matter what their race is, no matter what some of their beliefs are, that they are kind of here and there's a lot more similarities than differences.

And so if you can create a culture of change, of accountability, you're offering a gift.

But to do that as staff and people that work here, you know, we kind of need to be the example.

- [Kylie] For executive director Brian Elve, being that example is part of his own story with Guiding Light, having first passed through its doors as a participant.

- Whew, wow, this is a big one for me.

So I went through the program here at Guiding Light about 11 years ago.

Grew up on the east side of Grand Rapids with a middle class family.

Went to college, happened to be teaching in Grand Rapids.

And I would say that my addiction kept kind of heightening.

I really had no other option.

Never even had heard of Guiding Light.

And I was scared.

I didn't really know if I'd ever be of use to anybody.

I just felt that poorly about who I was.

A lot of shame.

And over time it started to kind of shift.

So now I find myself in this role, and I sometimes wake up and I'm like, "How did this happen?"

So it's kind of surreal.

- [Kylie] Elve's story sits alongside others hanging on the walls.

At first glance, these photos show a journey of active recovery, but each face carries a unique narrative.

And for some, time stands frozen.

- There's definitely probably eight of those pictures that are deceased.

And some of those deaths are due to use.

And so depending on who I'm looking at, I can have a very mixed feeling kind of happening inside me.

- [Kylie] But for the many that graduate the program, their success is bolted into memory, as those celebrating a year of sobriety make their mark.

- Out of the blue, I just start crying because my name's on that wall too.

And I've done some pretty cool things in my life that I thought in the moment like, "This is it.

This is so awesome!"

But having my name on that wall has become kind of the thing for me.

Like I have the most pride on that name being on that wall because I didn't think it was possible.

- [Kylie] The plaque plays part to a new chapter of life with many carrying with them the stories of others who are no longer here and inspiring brothers whose footsteps follow closely behind them on their ongoing road to recovery.

- So it's a moment of celebration, but the big caveat is it's just the beginning.

It's not a finish line.

Recovery is a lifelong journey.

But, man, to have someone say, "This is how my life started, this is who I've become, and these are the things that happened along the way," we find that to be a treasure.

(group applauding) (upbeat music) - While there are non-religious rehab options, studies show 73% of addiction treatment programs in the United States include some spiritually-based elements like we saw with Guiding Light.

Now, while that is welcomed by some, there's also a growing movement to create more secular options for people seeking treatment.

When we talk about the road to recovery, we often hear of the mental stressors.

But excessive alcohol consumption has a large impact on people physically as well.

In 2018, the World Health Organization said alcohol contributed to more than 200 diseases and injury-related health conditions.

Today Mutually Inclusive's Jennifer Moss is in the studio with Corewell Health to learn more.

(upbeat music) - Hello, everyone.

Thanks for joining us.

We are talking today of course about sobriety and a number of issues and the great hope surrounding it.

And joining us today is Dr. Colleen Lane and she's the medical director for Addictive Medicine at Corewell Health.

Welcome, and thanks for joining us.

- Yeah, thanks so much for having me.

Happy to be here.

- Well, thank you.

So to start, we just saw a story from Kylie Ambu and it touched upon the health risk of excessive drinking.

So let's start there.

What are, from a doctor's point of view, how great are the health risks that you're seeing as a result of excessive drinking?

- Yeah, so when we think about excessive or heavy drinking, there's a kind of a few different categories or buckets of people that we put patients in or people in.

So someone who's been heavily drinking or moderately drinking for many, many years, we might see that person develop a chronic liver disease.

So that's something a lot of us maybe think about when we think about someone who's a classic alcoholic or someone who's drank a lot for a long amount of time.

But I think a lot what people don't realize is that even a short amount of time, but with really heavy alcohol use, so binge alcohol drinking, can have really severe health effects too.

We see people end up in the emergency room or in the intensive care unit with something called alcoholic hepatitis, or a flare of your liver with a night of heavy drinking.

We also know that if I am studying for a really intense exam and then I wanna blow off some steam and I go and have a beer or a glass of wine or two with a friend, I am not retaining as much information for that exam the next day.

We also know that there's an increased risk of certain cancers, even if you're drinking what we would consider in a safe or moderate amount of alcohol.

So really there is health considerations at all ends of the spectrum.

So it's really important to be talking to your primary care or family physician about alcohol use.

- There seems to be a lot of levels of that.

- Absolutely.

- Because people think alcoholism, they think cirrhosis of the liver.

They think different things that are more well known.

But you could almost say moderate.

I mean if it's consistent but moderate, it could still cause problems over time it sounds like.

- Absolutely.

- And may not be deemed as excessive.

So when someone knows they have a drinking problem per se, or they've been told they have a drinking problem, the goal for many, of course, is to get sober.

That's the goal.

But that road to sobriety is not always an easy one.

And I know with your role as the medical director there, you see a lot of that, that it's a journey.

- Absolutely.

You know, we, in our field, in the addiction medicine clinics, we talk about all the time this is one of the hardest things that we treat.

So alcohol is a substance that is legal, it is part of a lot of our cultural celebrations.

And for a lot of people it's a social expectation.

If you're having a celebration with coworkers or family or friends, it's an expectation to maybe have a cocktail or have a drink.

So it's really hard to help somebody learn how to enter into those spaces, either being sober or being having periods of sobriety or trying to cut back and moderate or being more mindful with your out their drinking.

- And that's the big question there.

So what does sobriety really mean, Dr. Lane?

I mean, as we look at that whole picture.

'Cause there are... We were talking a moment ago and there are little facets that I didn't understand or know about that.

So what does it really mean?

- Yeah, so classically, I think when people think about the word sobriety or treatment, it's abstinence or zero use or nothing.

And unfortunately what that approach does is it excludes a large amount of people who say, "Well, that's not possible for me.

I know that where I am in life right now, I don't think I'm at a point where I can be 100% free from whatever substance," in this case, alcohol that I'm using.

So it doesn't invite that person to even try or talk about cutting back.

So what our approach is in our clinic, and really what the standard of care is now really in addiction medicine as a whole, is something called harm reduction.

So how do we invite that person into treatment and talk about the potential harm this substance might be causing, and how do we cut back or moderate alcohol use and alcohol intake?

So if you're binge drinking on the weekends or drinking a fifth of alcohol every day, can we get to half a fifth?

That's a huge improvement.

It's not classic sobriety, it's not abstinence, but it is absolutely having an impact.

- Baby steps.

- Uh huh.

Absolutely.

- Do you find that you get more people willing then to look at becoming or taking the road to sobriety when you take that approach versus saying, "Okay, all or nothing?"

- Yeah.

Oh yeah.

I think people are surprised when they come into our clinic and one of the questions we ask is, "In your situation, what was your ideal relationship with alcohol look like?

It doesn't have to be abstinence, so tell me what you are looking for."

Because a lot of times people have been given the option for just stop drinking, just say no.

Kind of that all or nothing attitude.

And they've either tried it before and it's not worked, so they've never been given the option to think about their relationship with a substance in a different way.

And we actually have medicines that help someone become more mindful and start to cut back.

And if you start to have kind of that snowball effect of, wow, cutting back on alcohol, I'm feeling better, performing better at work, my relationships are getting better, that actually invites people to cut back even further and think about, you know, developing other coping mechanisms and those types of things in their life rather than just relying on the substance.

- You see the benefits, and I would imagine that in fact some people may end up next thing they know they don't need alcohol at all because they have diminished the need over time without a full cutback.

- Yep, absolutely.

- Where does the mocktail fit in there when we talk about that?

Is that a good thing, a moderate thing, a bad thing?

I mean, does it help or hurt?

- So I think that's also a really kind of hot topic and something we talk about a lot.

It depends on the person.

So it's a conversation we would have with the person to say, what is your goal?

Is your goal to be able to go out with your friends, family, coworkers at a bar and be able to enjoy a cocktail with those people in an environment where you're able to socialize?

If that's the case, mocktails are great.

If the case is I'm looking for something that's gonna give me that buzz, that euphoria, for some people using mocktails then can be frustrating and a trigger to drink.

So it really kind of depends where somebody is in their recovery journey in kind of their spectrum.

So we may or may not talk about that as a tool for that person.

And they may try it and say, "Ugh, you know what, I went out and had a couple of mocktails and it led to me drinking."

Or if a person says, "Yeah, I was able to have one cocktail and then a mocktail, and that was a great way for me to cut back, where normally I'd have four or five alcohol drinks and I was able to have one or two drinks with alcohol and then mix it with mocktails."

That's a win.

- So it's a case by case basis I would imagine as well.

And so when we look at the numbers too of people who are partaking in alcohol, those numbers increased during COVID, right?

- Yes.

- So you, I would imagine, are a little more busy dealing with the aftermath of that because the availability and because everything was shut down so it left a lot of time for people to maybe, who were not drinkers, to become.

Is that what what you found?

- Yeah.

We actually have statistics that showed this now.

So we're able to look back.

We're a little bit further away from COVID so things have been published in medical journals that showed the rates of online alcohol ordering and delivery went up by almost a quarter.

So 25%.

We were able to purchase alcohol at restaurants and it was one of the only ways we could socialize 'cause you could be outside and we had those social zones where you could stand six feet away from someone and enjoy a drink.

Unfortunately, COVID was really isolating, and that is kind of the biggest trigger for someone who has a substance use disorder, being cut off from your social supports, being cut off from your medical or your therapy teams, your sponsor, your support groups.

And then the only thing, the coping skill or the coping mechanism, that was available was alcohol.

So for a lot of people who were in recovery, that was a really hard time.

And then for people who maybe didn't have a problem, we saw that their use of alcohol really increased, and now after COVID they're having a hard time getting back to their baseline.

- Before we wrap up, let's talk about people in recovery or those who are, their goal is to become sober, whatever that piece of sobriety looks like for them.

Again, we talk about it being a journey.

There can be relapses, there can be a process, making 20 steps forward, making 10 steps back.

What's your thought and perhaps advice for those who are on this journey and the things that they might want to do to kind of stay on track?

- Yeah.

So just like you said, this is a chronic illness, and returns to use or relapses is an expected part of the process.

Just like someone who has high blood pressure, once we start someone on a medicine or a treatment plan, their blood pressure isn't perfect 100% of the time for the rest of their life, right?

So there's little flare ups, there's ups and downs.

We need to kind of tweak the treatment plan a little bit here and there.

That is part of the journey.

We have medicines that help people if they're looking to cut back, help kind of that craving or that insatiable thirst for alcohol lower and kind of go to the back of the mind.

Some people who maybe have heard about treatments of alcohol in the past might think of a medicine that makes you ill. We do not use medicines like that as our first line anymore.

We really have medicines that just help you be more mindful, help you be able to either nurse a glass of alcohol or really take a pause and say, "Do I wanna order a second drink or have another sip?"

It is really a positive reinforcer rather than that negative reinforcer.

- And you're with them throughout the journey and you're seeing a lot of good progress in your work, I would imagine.

- Yeah, teaming with that person, coming up with their goals and being their cheerleader, that's absolutely what we do in our clinic.

And to make it easy to enter into care, we have walk-in hours because we know this is really hard.

There's a lot of stigma involved with substance use and alcohol use.

And if today is the day that you even just wanna learn about the options, you can walk into our addiction clinics and talk with one of us and find out what's out there for your options.

- An important conversation.

Dr. Lane, thank you so much for joining us today.

- Thank you.

- We appreciate your time.

- Yeah, thank you so much for bringing up this topic and talking about it.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - Not everyone who's sober is battling an alcohol addiction.

In fact, there's a sober curious movement spreading throughout America.

And with that sprouts more non-alcoholic drink options than we've ever seen before.

While many of those efforts are on the West Coast, you'll see some options here in Michigan like Lotus Brew Coffee and Dry Bar in Grand Rapids.

As we just heard, these options don't work for everyone, but if you're looking for a mocktail or alcoholic alternative, this next group says it has your back.

(upbeat music) - We show people that the non-alcoholic market is far different than it was even two or three years ago and how much it's grown and expanded.

- [Kylie] Beer bottles in the back, wine selections on the right, and colorful cocktail mixers fill the shelves inside More or Less.

Nestled inside downtown Grand Rapids, it may look like your average bottle shop, but a closer examination on these labels reveal a wide range of non-alcoholic drinks.

- A lot of people, you know, kind of think it's just juice or pop or things like that, but it's not true.

They're much closer to like their full leaded counterparts.

- What makes up for the lack of alcohol is the amazing flavors and the care that some of these small companies are putting into their product.

It's a labor of love almost top to bottom in this industry right now.

- [Kylie] Owners Chad Clark and Neil Demeester started the shop in 2022, wanting to create a corner store curated for the sober community, the first ever in Michigan social scene.

- Yeah, so ever since COVID, especially starting with COVID, there was a ton of people that were either doing like a 30-day dry challenge, like Dry January or Sober October, or folks that were trying to drink less during the week.

So we thought that this was definitely trending upwards and we wanted to support that and those folks.

Like we get people that drive two hours to come to our store just because we have the selection.

- You know, it was interesting.

I mean there are a lot of people thanking us for it.

I actually still hear that almost on a daily basis.

You know, people are so glad that we're here.

They're really happy for the options.

- [Kylie] But it's not just two entrepreneurs jumping at a business opportunity.

Both Clark and Demeester live sober lifestyles and understand the importance of choice firsthand when it comes to seeking out drink options.

- It's definitely a passion project for both of us.

We believe in the products that we have and we've tried probably close to 1500 different products.

We stock around 500 of those.

We try to stock the best ones.

But it's a mission we firmly believe in.

And the people that come in here that are just blown away by the amount of products that we're able to offer compared to, you know, maybe going to a traditional bottle shop and having two or three options tucked away in a corner.

To see 500 different things is just amazing to me.

- [Kylie] While the options are all non-alcoholic, not all drinks are alike.

For those seeking an option that still gives a bodily response, More or Less offers functional choices.

- We have a whole lot of beverages in this store that we kind of lump into a functional category.

So things that are gonna have, you know, maybe adaptogens, new tropics or different kinds of mushrooms, things that have a certain effect.

- It's kind of surprising to us when we started, right off the bat when people came in they were asking for the functional beverages because they wanted something that made them feel relaxed or had some calming properties.

And the functional beverage space has just exploded in the last couple years.

So that's been our fastest growing segment.

- At the end of the day- - You know, for me personally, I dig the functional stuff.

- [Kylie] The choice of beverage is up to the customer.

- For me, it's probably a random mixed six pack of craft beer.

- [Kylie] More or Less just wants to ensure there are options made for everyone.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) - And, you know, Kylie, it's very interesting as we look at that story, Dr. Lane mentioned about mocktails and how they often can sometimes work for some and for others it does not.

It can be a plus side or it can be a hindrance, but in some cases it really works.

- Yeah, absolutely.

And I think we saw that with the non-alcoholic bottle shop with More or Less that we were able to interview.

It seemed like they brought a lot of really great resources to the community.

But, you know, I know through friends of mine, I have a lot of friends who are sober, and one of my best friends really enjoys having things like juices or some of those syrups.

But when it comes to spirits or things that are trying to mimic that taste of alcohol, that can be really triggering.

And so I love the conversation where, you know, you talked about it's different for everyone.

- Absolutely.

And Dr. Lane also talked about the journey is different for everyone.

And so some things that work for others may not work as again, such as the mocktails.

But that individual journey is important, as she mentioned, to stick with it.

They have many options and they're so willing to work with you because sobriety means different things for different people.

And so for some people it's total abstinence and for others it's okay lessening the amount that you drink.

And so they have a process and a program that helps people to decide what route they wanna take on their journey.

And again, it's different for everyone.

- Absolutely.

And I saw that a lot when we were talking with Guiding Light's recovery program.

For them, they view sobriety as if you were to take an alcohol or drug test right now, you would come up with nothing.

They are really focused on the word "recovery."

Because for so many people it's this ongoing road.

And so you're absolutely right, the journey's different for everybody.

But we absolutely hope that you enjoyed the journey that we're on today to learn more.

And as always, we have a list of resources on our screen for more information.

And you can circle back to this episode and others on our website.

- [Jennifer] That's right.

And there is still more to come, of course.

Be sure to follow WGVU on Facebook and on YouTube for the very latest on our upcoming episodes.

- And we are so excited to see you next Wednesday.

Thank you for helping us be "Mutually Inclusive."

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues)