It sounded like he needed the pain killers to dull withdrawal. But it was not clear if he was stuck on pain killers or trying to deaden the pain of another chemical.
That conversation seemed heavily edited. It jumped from Phil saying “I never want to see you again! You’re out of my life!” to “Son, I don’t understand. Tell me what’s wrong.” with no transition between.
If I remember the confrontation correctly, I believe Jake said he was “hurting”. I’ve never heard mention of anything Jake has done other than alcohol and pain killers.
I have watched most episodes there are of deadliest catch. Phil in the past had openly wondered who would replace him as captain since in his own words he “smokes like a train and has done every drug known to man”. He just simply didn’t plan on living to old age based on his life style. It’s difficult to say how much the knowledge of Jake’s addiction contributed to Phil’s stroke but it obviously couldn’t help. In my understanding Jake’s addiction was alcohol and painkillers. Phil knew Jake was drinking a quart of whiskey a day, when he wasn’t on the boat, but the painkillers were news to Phil. I hope Jake gets his crap together and I really hope he and his dad made peace before Phil passed on. Rest in peace you were a hell of a man. In his own words a crappy father but a hell of a good man rest in peace.