Two Copers Walk Into a Coffee House; Drug Recovery and PTSD with Nelson Dent
The Rush
Anyone who knows me knows I spend quite a bit of time at the same coffee house. Honestly, every article written on the blog has been written at this coffee house.
With that being said, it’s only fitting that I write a piece about someone I met there.
Nelson Dent has been coming to Coffee Rush regularly for the last two years.
He happens to be the only interview I’ve had so far (out of 19) that said he was born and raised in Mesa Arizona.
The Walking Dead
I see the same people at Coffee Rush all the time and am slowly getting to know them so it was interesting for me to sit down with Nelson, himself, and hear just how courageous of a story he has.
“I’m an open book,” He told me as I explained to him briefly what the blog was about in the most disorganized interview I’ve conducted for the blog.
“Something that might surprise people though, is the fact that I’ve been legally dead for two minutes,” He went on to explain how he had been in a car accident with a friend while on cocaine.
“My family didn’t know I was on cocaine, no one knew anything… I had a skull fracture, a left orbit fracture, a fractured hip; I had to go a rapid detox and cognitive therapy.”
The Hulk… In Idaho?
Nelson told me he had used cocaine to cope through some childhood trauma as well as what he calls being called “the hulk”.
“I would get into fights, to the point of blacking out, not knowing what I was doing,” Nelson expressed his anger issues he faced with me.
“After one fight in about 9th grade I was threatened for my life, I was terrified, my family sent me to Idaho where I picked up country slang.”
“People are surprised at times because I’ll say y’all or say certain country phrases but that’s just from my time in Idaho.”
Nelson Dent; Creative Coper
Since this accident and rapid detox, Nelson has found healthier ways to cope with his emotions and PTSD such as music and art.
“My mom told me I was really good at singing from a young age and signed me up for choir at the age of six. I loved it but then I hit junior high age and I was too cool to sing.”
“In high school I joined choir again and actually won an award for best male vocalist one year.”
The Healing Powers of Music
“Music has always been a go to for me, whether it’s singing or listening to it.”
What I found interesting was that Neslon said he is a trained opera singer but his musical influences are a lot of punk rock bands like Tool and the all ever sacred Lagwagon.
He told me how one of the baristas at Coffee Rush didn’t believe he was an opera singer until he busted out singing Phantom of the Opera right there as he was ordering his usual coffee.
“I stopped and noticed everyone looking at me, assuming I was yelling or something,” He laughed as he told me this story.
He also mentioned working on a Music collaboration with a fellow coffee rusher.
