The stigma of addiction is so bad that people who are struggling with it choose to hide it. However, addiction is not the real problem, but rather the symptom of all these underlying hurts, pains, and suffering.

Today’s episode is a replay of an interview with David Poses, who recently passed away, in honor of his life and legacy. A writer, speaker, and activist, David was a tireless advocate for all who struggled with mental health or addiction issues. David is the author of The Weight of Air: A Story About the Lies of Addiction and the Truth of Recovery.

David struggled with addiction, which he chose to hide for a long time. After trying to find a treatment that worked for him, he soon discovered buprenorphine, an opioid used to treat opioid-use disorders, which also saved his life from heroin. David also realized that being sober only means abstaining from whatever it is you’re addicted to, while recovery happens only when you’ve healed the wounds that led you to addiction in the first place.

That being said, there are different ways to treat addiction, and so, ultimately, you have to find one that works for you.

In this episode, you will hear:

• Resorting to heroin due to depression but it was also heroin that caused his depression
• Why AA wasn’t the right solution for him
• Finding the treatment and recovery method that works for us
• How opioids affect the brain
• Two medications that have been proven to dramatically reduce your risk of death, relapse, and overdose
• How buprenorphine saved David’s life
• Achieving recovery through healing the wounds that led you to addiction
• The stigma of addiction

Key Quotes:

[13:58] - "For every kind of vice or addiction, your neurotransmitters rewire, and they seek out the next hit. There’s the idea that sobriety gets easier with time and your brain heals in time and things go back to normal... But there have been a lot of studies about opioids that show that it doesn't necessarily go back."

[21:12] - "There are two medications that are proven to dramatically reduce your risk of death, relapse, and overdose: methadone and buprenorphine. All other forms of treatment or medications do not, and many others actually do the exact opposite."

[21:31] - “Any kind of abstinence-based treatment, whether it's forced or voluntary, increases your risk of overdose because you come out of it, you have no tolerance, and that's when people die.”

[23:10] - "Addiction has been so siloed off away from medicine for so long. Even with doctors, I tell the doctor the history and they assume I'm in there looking for drugs."

[35:03] - "If sobriety is I'm not taking drugs anymore or abstinence. Recovery is healing the wounds that led you to drugs in the first place."

[39:09] - "The stigma of addiction is so bad that I was seriously contemplating suicide."

[41:02] - "Addiction is not the problem. Addiction is definitely a problem but drugs are a form of self-medication."

[47:12] - "With any physical or psychological thing, we identify the source of pain, and we treat it so you can heal. With addiction, we explicitly tell you to ignore the source of pain because it's an excuse."

If you really enjoyed this episode, we’ve created a PDF that has all of the key information for you from the episode. Just go to the episode page at www.theaddictedmind.com to download it.

Supporting Resources:

GoFundMe campaign to support David Poses’ family

https://www.gofundme.com/f/we-love-you-david-posesand-love-your-family

The Weight of Air: A Story About the Lies of Addiction and the Truth of Recovery

https://davidposes.com/the-weight-of-air

Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com Let them know we sent you.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s a bit of mystery and uncertainty surrounding Psychiatric Hospitals across the country. They are staffed with caring professionals and the goal of today’s show is to sort of demystify the process of dealing with a Psych Hospital and also understanding some best practices for getting help to the folks who need it most.

Our guest today is someone I have a personal relationship with because he’s my brother, Eric Osterlind! Eric is a psych nurse and he works in Psychiatric hospitals with acute patients. Eric also works in the ER, dealing with their psych cases. Most of the cases Eric works with are acute, so the first priority is to keep the patient safe, and then any treatment would come after the psych team is sure they are safe.

Most of Eric’s patients come in on a 5150 psych hold, which lasts for 72 hours. If they are a danger to others or a danger to themselves, then they can be held on this hold. Reasons for this hold could be that a person becomes suicidal or homicidal, maybe they’ve had a psychotic break, or have somehow gotten to the point where they cannot care of themselves. Listen in as Eric explains the current conditions a psychiatric patient would encounter in a hospital situation.

Show Highlights:

• Safety comes first in the psych hospital.
• Choose your ER carefully, as it could determine what the outcome is for the patient.
• Unless a situation is acute, it may be best not to call 911 for help.
• Visiting a psych hospital for the first time can be jarring.
• When a patient is in a psych hospital visiting hours are severely restricted.
• Psych hospitals try to mimic reality as closely as hospital, so it’s very different from a medical hospital.
• Upon entering a psych hospitals a patient still has rights, so they are advised of their rights immediately.
• Psych hospitals actually act as an advocate for the patient.
• A 5250 is a 14-day hold that can be mandated by a Doctor.
• The hospital has Patient’s Rights Advocate as a way of checks and balances in the system.
• As a family member, you can approach the care team if your relative is in the gray area. Do not lie to the Psychiatric Evaluation Team, but give them useful information.
• An entire team is available to help the patient in a 72-hour hold - Psychologists, Marriage Counselors, Recreational Therapists, Movement Therapists, Pet Therapists, and others may all be part of the team.
• When dealing with a child patient, take them to an ER with a juvenile (adolescent) psych ward, otherwise, it will take awhile to get transferred
• Always get help - help is available to everyone!

Suicidal? Help is available. Please reach out!

National Suicide Hotline: 800-273-8255

crisistextline.org

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-addicted-mind-podcast/donations

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America is in the midst of a new drug crisis. Earlier this year, the CDC reported a staggering 107,000 overdose deaths in 2021. That's one every five minutes. It's up almost 15% from 2020 and nearly 70% of those deaths involved fentanyl.

On today's episode, Duane speaks with Sam Quinones who has been sounding the alarm for years. A journalist and storyteller, Sam is a former LA Times reporter and author of four acclaimed books of narrative nonfiction, including New York Times bestseller and National Book Critics Circle Award winner, Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic. She’s also the author of the National Book Critics Circle Award finalist, The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth, which captures the devastation of this new epidemic of synthetic drugs, but at the same time, offers a lot of hope.

Duane and Sam explore the root of this whole opioid crisis and the need for us, as a society, to embrace recovery without anonymity, no more euphemisms, and no more hiding. We all have to get out of the shame that comes with addiction. We’re also living in a culture of addictive stuff where fast food, sugars, and pornography are legal. All this boils down to social change that is best achieved in small ways and small daily efforts – and it all starts with you!

In this episode, you will hear:

• The supply of synthetic drugs in Mexico
• How his book focuses on the message of hope in the midst of the opioid era
• Dr. Lou Ortenzio’s story of addiction and recovery
• Getting rid of the anonymity and euphemisms
• How we’re living in a culture of addictive stuff
• Becoming a master of your own fate
• What you can do on an individual level

Subscribe and Review

Have you subscribed to our podcast? We’d love for you to subscribe if you haven’t yet.

We’d love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a second and it helps spread the word about the podcast.

Supporting Resources:

https://samquinones.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samquinonesjournalist

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samquinones_author/

Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic

https://www.amazon.com/Dreamland-YA-Americas-Opiate-Epidemic/dp/1547601310

The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth

https://www.amazon.com/Least-Us-Tales-America-Fentanyl-ebook/dp/B0932RRNVL?ref_=ast_sto_dp

NovusMindfulLife.com

Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com Let them know we sent you.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How does one confront the silent battles of sex addiction within the LGBTQ community? Brandon Simpson, an associate marriage and family therapist from Novus Mindful Life Institute, joins this conversation to unravel this complex issue, sharing not just professional insights but personal experiences as a gay man. Together, Duane and Brandon shed light on the intersection of intimacy and identity, especially the uphill struggle against a heteronormative bias in therapy that too often overlooks the nuances in gay relationships. Get a glimpse of the shadows where shame and sexuality intertwine, offering a beacon of understanding for those navigating these often-misunderstood waters.

The weight of homophobia on the shoulders of gay men can be crushing, driving many towards sex as a coping mechanism and, potentially, into the throes of addiction. This candid discussion with Brandon uncovers the layers of this reality, diving into the internalized homophobia and the consequent shame that propels an individual into the depths of secrecy. They also tackle the daunting world of dating apps like Grindr, dissecting their role in the complex search for meaningful connections amidst a culture saturated with sexual expectations – a conversation that's as revealing as it is necessary for anyone yearning to grasp the full picture.

This episode is not just an examination of the challenges faced by the gay community, but it also celebrates the courage it takes to set boundaries and the transformation that comes with self-discovery. By sharing stories of resilience and change, this episode underscores the importance of supportive networks and the quest for alignment with personal values. It's a conversation that doesn't just affirm the experiences of individuals within the LGBTQ spectrum but also champions the journey towards a more authentic and fulfilling life. Join today’s discussion to affirm the beauty of personal truth – in a world still learning to embrace the full spectrum of human connection.

In this episode, you will hear:

• Challenging heteronormative standards in sex ed
• Internalized homophobia in the LGBTQ community
• Navigating stereotypes in gay therapy
• Navigating pressure in LGBTQ community
• Navigating friend group boundaries

Follow and Review:

We’d love for you to follow us if you haven’t yet. Click that purple '+' in the top right corner of your Apple Podcasts app. We’d love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a second and it helps spread the word about the podcast.

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NOTE: Since the date of recording this episode, our guest for this week has embarked on her gender transition. While you’ll hear her referred to by her previous name (often called a ‘deadname’) in the episode, we’ve updated the show notes to reflect this. Her name is Hana Leyland and she uses She/Her pronouns.

What happens when you face your darkest fears and emerge stronger on the other side? We're thrilled to welcome the extraordinarily resilient Hana Leland to the show, who's about to unfold an absorbing narrative of personal transformation, navigating a queer identity, and dealing with a mother's mental health battle. Hana's life-changing journey saw her grappling with addiction and trauma, yet she found an unexpected superpower in the midst of these darkest hours.

On today’s episode, Duane and Hana unravel the complex layers of her identity, and how she navigated through her queer identity in an ever-evolving world. The discussion takes a deep dive into the concept of Peter Pan Syndrome and its link with addiction, a rampant issue within the queer community. Hana's story is a testament to the power of self-exploration guided by therapy and internal family systems. She shines a light on the importance of mentors within the LGBTQ+ community and how they play a pivotal role in shaping identity.

Moving forward, we explore the transformative journey toward authenticity. Hana highlights the role of sobriety in illuminating her own identity, and how harnessing the power of storytelling has been instrumental in reclaiming her authenticity. Not shying away from vulnerability, she emphasizes the need for support and mentorship on one's journey to self-discovery. Hana's narrative is an inspiring reminder that embracing our unique values and identities can lead to profound transformation and that asking for help is not a sign of weakness, but strength. Tune in and let this heartfelt story inspire your own journey toward self-actualization.

In this episode, you will hear:

• Overcoming addiction and finding grace
• Navigating LGBTQ+ identity and trauma
• Exploring identity and overcoming dark parts
• Asking for help and authenticity

Follow and Review:

We’d love for you to follow us if you haven’t yet. Click that purple '+' in the top right corner of your Apple Podcasts app. We’d love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a second and it helps spread the word about the podcast.

Supporting Resources:

NovusMindfulLife.com

Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com Let them know we sent you.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices