There are a lot of negative consequences that can come from behavioral addictions. They include everything from financial problems to legal repercussions to health issues. Whether it’s gambling, gaming, sex, or pornography, it’s important to understand why some people are susceptible to certain behaviors. In fact, the same mechanism that influences chemical addiction could be responsible for behavioral addiction as well. On this episode, Duane speaks with Amanda Giordano, a licensed professional counselor and associate professor at the University of Georgia, who specializes in addiction counseling both in chemical addiction and behavioral addiction. Amanda is the author of a clinical reference book titled A Clinical Guide to Treating Behavioral Addictions.  Today, she imparts her expertise in this field, explaining how the changes in the brain associated with behavioral addictions are actually very similar to the changes associated with chemical addictions.  In other words, instead of becoming addicted to a chemical that originates outside of the body, the body is addicted to the release of its own neurochemicals (dopamine in particular). Once the brain’s reward system is activated, it releases neurotransmitters which can become very difficult for some people to abstain from as they become their primary means of regulating their emotions. Hence, for some susceptible individuals, a rewarding behavior can become an addiction where there’s a loss of control over that behavior. The behavior is continued despite negative consequences and it becomes compulsive for that individual. They experience cravings or a mental preoccupation with the behavior when they're not engaging in it.  In this episode, you will hear: How a rewarding behavior can become an addiction Different types of behavioral addiction Resetting the brain takes time The 4 C’s of addiction The behavior becoming the salient part of their life Proven effective methods of treatment Factors that influence the susceptibility to behavioral addiction Positive reinforcement vs. negative reinforcement The three circles technique to identify the warning signs Key Quotes: [04:24] - “There are changes in the brain associated with behavioral addictions that are very similar to changes associated with chemical addictions.” [06:37] - “Instead of becoming addicted to a chemical that originates outside of the body, we're really becoming addicted to the release of our own neurochemicals.” [09:29] - “The brain can reset, but it takes time… It takes a little bit of time for the brain to reset and to again, start functioning the way it did prior to the start of the addiction.” [14:42] - “There are a lot of negative consequences that can come from behavioral addictions, everything from finances to legal repercussions to health issues.” [17:25] - “The chronic elevation of dopamine tricks the brain into thinking this must be a really important activity and must be necessary for my survival.” [30:26] - “If we can find alternative, healthier, more adaptive ways to regulate our emotions, then we might not need to turn to some of these problematic behaviors.” [42:13] - “Isolation, shame, and secrecy are some of the weapons that addiction uses to keep us silent and keep us sick." Supporting Resources: Email: amanda.giordano@uga.edu  Amanda’s blog:  https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/contributors/amanda-l-giordano-phd-lpc   A Clinical Guide to Treating Behavioral Addictions: https://www.amazon.com/Clinical-Guide-Treating-Behavioral-Addictions/dp/0826163165 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5): https://www.amazon.com/Diagnostic-Statistical-Manual-Mental-Disorders/dp/0890425558 Irresistible by Adam Alter: https://www.amazon.com/Irresistible-Addictive-Technology-Business-Keeping/dp/1594206643 Episode Credits If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating yo...

Sophie Aghdami is an addiction recovery coach in Australia. Today, she shares her own story of recovery from alcoholism as well as how a particular parable helped change her whole perspective on recovery, find success in healing, and create a thriving life.  Sophie grew up in Switzerland and the UK and moved to Australia just two years ago. Her drinking started as an early teen. In the UK, it’s a cultural thing to start drinking early or at least be around it a lot. It was just the norm for Sophie. She also worked at a pub surrounded by people who were always drinking and, as she went through university, she stayed in that line of work. Sophie then started managing restaurants. She loved this job but it was very stressful and the hours were long. As a result, drinking became her coping and stress-release mechanism. She began drinking earlier and earlier in the day until it became her brain's reaction to cope with stressful situations. Eventually, Sophie realized that drinking was no longer a fun option for her but a necessity to kickstart her brain to face the day. It was then that she got out of the restaurant industry. Unfortunately, she still found herself stuck in alcoholism afterward. Finally, after a compassionate conversation with her brother, she decided to go to a five-week rehab in Thailand which was life-changing for her. Soon after, she found her calling as an addiction recovery coach. In this role, she not only helps others but also assists herself in her own recovery. In this episode, you will hear: When Sophie realized she had a drinking issue The pivotal moment when she decided to go to rehab Removing herself from a toxic environment How she found her calling as a recovery coach The parable that inspired Sophie to name her coaching company Recovery starts when you start feeding the good wolf  Breaking down recovery into smaller steps and celebrating each tiny thing The need for support, especially in the early stages Key Quotes: [02:14] - "In the UK, it was a very cultural thing to start drinking very early, or at least be around it a lot." [05:43] - "In the restaurant industry, and especially alcohol, it's so socially acceptable. It's perceived as just doing something really fun." [17:24] - “When I was feeding my bad wolf, the relapses would begin or the addiction just continued.” [17:30] - “​​Feeding the good wolf, releasing that shame, giving ourselves compassion, love, having a connection, all of those things that I mentioned from the parable – that's where recovery really starts to strengthen and we're able to maintain it.” [20:03] - “To think of the bigger things that started being added in, over time, was too overwhelming so I ended up not doing anything. So I thought the best thing to do is do something tiny, and celebrate that tiny thing." [22:23] - "Courage is there so just try and reach out and step out of that dark place. There will always be someone there to help because the support is necessary." [24:57] - "When we build up the strong wolf, things like self-compassion do get stronger." 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: www.thewolfyoufeed.com  Episode Credits If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

On today’s episode, Duane talks with Charlie Gray about his journey of hope and resiliency through his toxic relationship with vodka and the one thing that allowed him to stay sober. In his memoir, At Least I’m Not The Frog: A Zany Memoir of Alcoholism & Recovery, Charlie Gray tells his story of being a recovering alcoholic sharing his experience of addiction, relapse, and recovery. Living as a high-functioning alcoholic for 11 years, his plan was to keep his job, make some good money, and just drink his way through. This went on until, physically, he could no longer do so. The way he puts it is, “You can only drink a gallon and a half of vodka every day or so for so long before even a young man's body begins to shut down.”  The root cause behind such a behavior was his early childhood trauma from losing his mother. He was so focused on creating a life of purpose in honor of his mother that he never dreamed addiction would be something on the table for him. But then began 11 years of a toxic relationship with vodka. Charlie attended a number of treatment centers across the country. Over the years, he had gathered all of the tools necessary for recovery. He was receptive to advice on what to do to better himself; he just didn’t implement it.  However, when the body says no more and your pain is too great, there comes a point when you decide to do something. One day, Charlie just woke up ready to receive the love and the message from his higher power that if he would just spend a little time trying the practices he had learned through those years, he would stay sober. And so, that’s what he did. In this episode, you will hear: Dealing with the loss of a mother The brain as a powerful tool for coping The huge disconnect between the heart and the head Charlie’s decision to use the tools he learned to stay sober A daily struggle to not succumb to the craving How writing has helped him recover Key Quotes: [04:36] - “I was so focused on creating a life of purpose in honor of my mother that I never dreamed that addiction would be something on the table for me.” [05:54] - “Your brain is such a powerful tool without you knowing it." [09:47] - “Thinking that you can control it – that's another great example of how clever our minds can be and the rationale they can create when you have proven 1000 times that you cannot control it.” [12:39] - “You can only drink a gallon and a half of vodka every day or so, for so long before even a young man's body begins to shut down." [20:38] - "It really wasn't until about a month or two after I'd been sober, that I began writing, and that is how I was able to stay sober through the rest of the pandemic.”  [24:14] - “A lot of terrible things have happened to me. But I overcame them and I'm not the frog.” [32:57] - "Keep trying that even when it feels like you're never going to find your identity or you're never going to find your sobriety, it is out there." Supporting Resources: At Least I'm Not The Frog: A Zany Memoir Of Alcoholism & Recovery Episode Credits If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

In this episode, Duane speaks with Robert Kanter, an international recovery advocate addressing the opioid epidemic. Today, he talks about his advocacy work with the opioid epidemic. He also tells his own story of recovery from alcohol and substance use disorders and how his daughter's struggles became the genesis of his advocacy work. In 2020, overdose fatalities hit 93,000 in the US. This was a record-breaking amount with COVID exacerbating the existing opioid crisis. It was an epidemic within the pandemic. Just to give you context of how serious this problem is, Robert says that we lost more people last year to overdose fatalities than we lost in the entire Vietnam War. Robert is in recovery from alcohol use disorder and substance use disorder and has now been sober for many years. Three years ago, his daughter almost overdosed on opiates and heroin, locked in an apartment with a drug-dealing boyfriend. Now, she just celebrated three years of sobriety. As a father, Robert felt completely powerless to do anything. This was a big part of what pushed him into the advocacy work he does now: helping other families who are in the same situation as he was. Hear more about his passion for getting the word out there and how he’s working to hold some companies and individuals accountable who are responsible for this opioid epidemic. One of the reasons this podcast exists is to change that stigma around addiction. Robert coming on the show today to talk about this brings a human face to it all. In this episode, you will hear: How the opioid epidemic started and who’s responsible The pill dumping in West Virginia as a landmark trial The role of the FDA in this whole crisis The Portugal model of harm reduction How people struggling with addiction are dissociated from their families  The role of the media in reversing the epidemic Key Quotes: [02:25] - "There were 88,000 overdose fatalities in this country. It was revised up to 93,000, which is a record because you have the perfect storm of the pandemic, and you have fentanyl on the street...an epidemic within a pandemic." [03:19] - "We lost more people last year to overdose fatalities than we lost in the entire Vietnam War." [04:14] - “It's not like people are just going to stop being addicted. Money has to be there for treatment programs."  [05:14] - “My vote for the real entity that really caused the epidemic is the Food and Drug Administration because they are the gatekeepers. They're the ones that are supposed to protect the American public.” [11:05] - “It's a step in the right direction. If these other lawsuits go through quickly, now, the money for treatment around the country is really starting to open up.” [20:56] - “You have to have the media and a consistent basis, covering the positive things that are happening." [23:43] - "We understand your pain and your suffering. And we have resources for you. And we have resources for your families. This is a family illness, the people we hurt the most are the people we love the most." [30:32] - "The more people that lose loved ones, the more these people are then going to get involved and really understand what happened. That's one of the unfortunate silver linings of all this." Supporting Resources: Faces & Voices of Recovery Episode Credits If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

We have to work and deal with our internal and early trauma. This can be more difficult to see and process without a reliable, trustworthy “other” in our lives. Sometimes it even takes an expert who can walk us through that journey in order for us to get to that safe space for healing and recovery. Today, Duane talks with Andrew Susskind about his book, It's Not About the Sex: Moving from Isolation to Intimacy after Sexual Addiction. They go into depth about attachment, emotional regulation, the need for reliable people to heal your traumatic wounds, and how we can do that when we're in recovery and still struggling with internal chaos.   Andrew is a licensed clinical social worker, a Somatic Experiencing practitioner, a Brainspotting practitioner, and a certified group psychotherapist. The book is Andrew's passion project where he wrote about themes that have been on his mind for three decades now. Since then, so much has changed in the mental health field as well as the addiction and trauma world. Andrew’s book reflects many of those changes.  Andrew not only leans on the experiences of his clients but on his personal experience as well. In 1994, Andrew went to his first SCA meeting, which stands for Sexual Compulsives Anonymous. In the therapy room, he noticed that people were learning how to stop their addictive behaviors. However, that's just the starting gate. His book covers some themes and different areas of healing that can happen beyond stopping destructive behavior. In this episode, you will hear: Somatic Experiencing and Brainspotting The mechanism behind our nervous system regulation The concept of upregulation vs. downregulation Why it’s not just about sex Having reliable relationships as a platform for healing Key Quotes: [06:57] - “Somatic Experiencing and Brainspotting are both trauma healing modalities that focus on Nervous System regulation.” [07:40] - “One of the keys to regulating the nervous system is knowing when we're dysregulated.” [08:29] - “Someone who feels most comfortable in their skin feels calm, peaceful, grounded, and hopefully feels resourceful, resilient, and buoyant.” [11:51] - “Even though it looks like compulsive sexual behavior, on the surface, once we scratch the surface, it's really about broken-heartedness.” [14:20] - “When someone is trying to regulate themselves, it's actually an attempt to feel better.” [17:49] - “If you scratch the surface on anyone who's sexually compulsive, you're going to find some kind of avoidant attachment within that.” [23:08] - “If we're connected within and to one another, and to something greater than ourselves, that's going to create a platform for healing.” 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. 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: www.westsidetherapist.com It's Not About the Sex: Moving from Isolation to Intimacy after Sexual Addiction by Andrew Susskind  www.Brainspotting.com   Episode Credits If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-addicted-mind-podcast/do...

Patients with substance use disorder have every right to be pregnant and have children as much as anyone else. Some people look at it as being irresponsible but who are we to judge? In fact, our guest today explains how certain medications for substance use disorders could have played a part in improving the hormonal milieu of patients enough that a pregnancy might occur. On this episode, Duane speaks with Dr. Charles Schauberger, an OB/GYN and Addiction Medicine doctor who specializes in helping women who are struggling with substance use disorder go through pregnancy. This is an issue that doesn't get talked about or thought about a lot unless someone is in this situation.  A strong advocate for addiction treatment and compassionate care, Charles shares his story of getting into this specialty and how women dealing with substance use disorder can have a very healthy and successful pregnancy if they’re given the right support.  His motivation for helping these women comes from recognizing the discrimination against this group of underserved people who have limited resources, not to mention the stigma associated with their drug use which makes their pregnancy even harder.   Charles started practicing as an obstetrician in 1982 and has delivered about 5,000 babies over the course of his career. In 2008, he experienced burnout, left his clinical practice, and became a hospital administrator. After two and a half years, he went back into practice again because he missed patient contact. In this episode, you will hear: Charles’ journey into medicine Some myths around pregnancy and substance use The stigmas that pregnant women struggling with substance abuse have Using MAT during pregnancy The real treatment for recovery Key Quotes: [08:06] - “Patients who have substance use disorder, have every right to be pregnant and have children as much as anyone else.” [10:28] - "I do suggest patients are better off if they are stable in their treatment and recovery before achieving a pregnancy. But I never talk down to anyone who gets pregnant while they're still actively using." [11:53] - "There are a lot of women who fear that their babies are going to be taken away from them." [13:31] - “I've never seen a baby with that severe of withdrawal symptoms. If they have received care, and are carefully monitored, their babies will not suffer.” [14:15] - “There have been theories that acute withdrawal from heroin or other opioids might be associated with greater risk of miscarriage or stillbirth. But for the most part, that's probably not the case.” [14:58] - “A dead mother leads to a dead baby so we really want to emphasize the importance of the use of those medications.” [15:57] - "Alcohol is particularly a bad drug when we think of the effects of alcohol on developing fetuses and newborns. The fetal alcohol syndrome is a significant concern." [19:30] - "Getting a decent job, or, and building relationships with people that are in recovery, clearing up your legal issues so that you can put that behind you – those are the things that build recovery and are so important to people with substance use disorder." [34:37] - "If they can seek help early in pregnancy, we have a better chance to help them through some of the difficulties and make for a successful and safe pregnancy." Supporting Resources: Women and Substance Use Disorders Action Group of the American Society of Addiction Medicine Episode Credits If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

What happens when your pain is greater than your fears? On this episode, Duane speaks with Recovery Pastor Craig Brown and author of the book, Stop Hiding, Start Healing.  Craig shares his recovery journey coming out of an abusive, dysfunctional family and how he peeled off the layers of his pain, shame, and guilt, and finally found freedom again once he decided to surrender and give his life over to Christ-centered recovery. One of the striking things Craig also mentioned during this interview is that people think recovery is about addiction and about the drug addict, but recovery is about restoring souls.  Growing up, Craig was feeling the pressure of having a dad who was a pastor, being in an environment where they were forced to fake it so his dad would look good in public. But the man he saw standing in the pulpit was entirely different than the one he saw at home. He had a lot of demons within him as well as a lot of struggles that he took out on Craig and his siblings. So at a very young age, Craig had to learn some coping mechanisms to deal with what he was going through. He didn't have good nurturing nor did he have any emotional, mental, or spiritual development. Once he got to high school, he started drinking. He felt a huge void and he wanted to get away from God and his family. From there, he began his descent to what he calls the pit of hell. He was partying everywhere and had no self-control. He felt totally isolated and didn’t have anybody he could talk to and trust. He just didn’t feel safe.  His streak of unfortunate events continued on as he dropped out of college and took a job at a bar restaurant owned by the biggest cocaine dealer on the East Coast at the time. There, he got sucked up into the drug world. He was depressed and dark with no mission or vision until the pain in his life got greater than his fear of changing. It was then that he finally decided to surrender and God took over his life. From that surrender came freedom. In this episode, you will hear: Craig’s addiction and recovery journey The conscious decision to get well Shattering the bondage of shame and guilt Why the Bible is a blueprint for recovery Replacing negative self-talk with positive input The role of community in recovery Key Quotes: [06:28] - "Oftentimes, we take on the identity of our struggle, our pain. our shame. our guilt, failure." [07:09] - “When the pain is greater than my fear of changing, my fear of shame, my fear of embarrassment, when you're at that point, more often than not, you're going to do whatever it takes to get well.” [13:00] - “People have so many resources available to get well. But the shame of their past is debilitating.” [13:49] - “That shame and that guilt that is just keeping you in bondage. Let it be cracked and shattered, so you can be set free and begin healing.” [14:31] - “Of all places that people should be accepted. It's the church. And oftentimes that's not the case, unfortunately.” [15:56] - “If you've had adverse childhood events and painful events, you're going to find a way to cope, and you're more likely to turn to a substance, or pornography, or sex or food or whatever it is to make yourself feel medicated.” [18:31] - “Churches that teach practical application of Scripture, do extremely well in helping people fully understand how it applies to their situation.” [23:26] - "Whatever your community is, it has to be healthy, it has to be relational." Supporting Resources: Book: www.stophidingstarthealingbook.com   Website: www.craigdbrown.com  Facebook: Stop Hiding Start Healing Episode Credits If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Addictions are many things. But to simplify, they represent parts of our personalities that are out of balance. They represent a part of our body, mind, soul, or spirit that needs a lot of attention and that perhaps was neglected in childhood. As we continue using external substances, these imbalances get louder and louder until they have to be dealt with. Eventually, we get stuck in a cycle of shame and guilt that leads to hopelessness. On this episode, Duane speaks with Paul Churchill, the host and founder of Recovery Elevator. In 2015, Paul launched the podcast, which he thought was a risky move having only been six months sober from alcohol. It was a calculated gamble that actually saved his life. Now, it has opened a lot of doors for him to meet great people and impact other people’s lives. Paul was a normal drinker for about seven years since he was 15 years old. Soon, he found how the drug alcohol let him overcome his insecurities and fears in early childhood. At 22, after he graduated college, he moved to Granada, Spain and bought a bar. Moving to a foreign country with a drinking problem to buy a bar in Spain at a young age was a total dumpster fire. It was both the best time and the worst time of his life. The tipping point came at the very end when he blacked out for three straight days and realized he was tiptoeing around life and death. In 2010, he decided to go a month without alcohol and ended up going two and a half years without it. He was going forward on willpower. When you’re viewing life without alcohol as a sacrifice, your time is limited. So he went back to drinking, stopped again, and then went back to alcohol again. It was a cycle that gave him a sense of hopelessness to the point of him attempting suicide. In 2014, he finally surrendered and stopped fighting. Now, here he is – seven years later. He believes his addiction served a purpose that directed him to move forward in life without alcohol and to go internal instead of external for happiness and support. In this episode, you will hear: Paul’s addiction and recovery journey Being stuck in a cycle of shame and hopelessness How Paul was finding habits or distractions as part of his recovery Addiction as an adaptive behavior The endowment theory that forces us to connect  Ending the stigma of addiction itself and getting help for it Overcoming addiction through community and accountability Key Quotes: [03:13] - “Addictions are many things. But to simplify them, they represent parts of our personalities that are out of balance.” [04:16] - “Alcohol was a self medicating elixir in it. It worked wonders. The problem was it wasn't sustainable.” [07:11] - “It's a real dangerous cycle that we can get on where we have intense anxiety, alcohol relieves it. And then when alcohol goes away, there's more anxiety.” [10:18] - “Hope is constantly looking into the future for a better world, and that's a trap in itself.” [10:23] - “When you have lost all hope, and you really come crashing down into the present moment, that's where the bulk of the recovery work happens in this present moment.” [14:50] - “A lot of these addictions, especially in modern society, they're adaptive behaviors.” [19:40] - “Overall human beings, they're wired to help. And most human beings are really good people.” [23:08] - “It is a societal issue. And it's not the issue for just the addict or the alcoholic. And it's not even really their fault. A lot of this is generational and passed down.” [24:06] - “How to depart from addiction is complicated... but it can also be as simple as community and accountability.” Supporting Resources: https://www.recoveryelevator.com/  In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Dr. Gabor Maté  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

When we are in deep pain or we have these hardships in our life, we have to learn how to transmute them and turn them into something different – not just overcoming it. As for KL Wells, she decided to transmute her pain into service by helping others whose loved ones are struggling with addiction. KL is a businesswoman and she has a 30-year-old son who is a recovering addict. Through the course of her life, she has lived the generational story around addiction, not struggling with addiction herself, but being able to see addiction from a different perspective. Her mom was addicted to prescription medications, which was something popular back in those days. Then she had a brother who was addicted to cocaine. She married an alcoholic and divorced, and had her son out of that marriage. She subsequently remarried a recovering alcoholic of 28 years.  Seeing her son being arrested at gunpoint and who was yelling at her to save him was a very traumatic experience for her. In that moment, every dream she had for him shattered. Her heart broke, but in that "cracking open," she also knew it was meant to happen for her, fully aware that you have to give yourself permission to completely dissolve, and let the emotions work through you.  Hearing KL’s story, there's so much resilience flowing through her. When you have a child who is suffering from a disease that could kill him or her, it has a catalytic impact on us, as parents, like nothing else can. She knew she had to put this down in a way that she can help other people because it's incredibly painful to witness the people you love in so much suffering. Today, KL talks about her project, Voices InCourage, a community that provides that space where you actually feel heard on a multitude of layers and levels, and that people get you because they've walked that path. Then you can be raw and real, and transmute it for yourself so it serves your journey.   In this episode, you will hear: KL’s journey as the loved one of different addicts The two major questions from which Voices InCourage was born out of The two life-defining moments for KL Transmuting your challenges instead of overcoming them Embracing our traumas and grief Key Quotes: [06:56] - “Pain pushes until vision pulls.” [08:36] - "When you have a child who is suffering with the disease that could kill him or her, it has a catalytic impact on us as parents, like nothing else can." [12:17] - “You have to give yourself permission to completely dissolve, and let the emotions work through you.” [14:53] - “In the midst of COVID, with all the numbers just skyrocketing in terms of overdoses and relapses, addiction going up, alcoholism going up, and abuse going up… We're in a pandemic of proportions we've never seen before.” [16:59] - “We are on the planet to serve. All of our life experiences are building blocks to service.” [18:26] - “We're human beings, and we have a full component of emotions and sadness and grief are part of life.” [25:37] - "95% of our success or failure is predicated on the community that we surround ourselves with." [26:46] - "One of the top human needs is to be heard and we're not trained to do this as a society, as a culture, as a world." Supporting Resources: https://voicesincourage.com/ Man's Search for Meaning Book by Viktor Frankl Episode Credits If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

For most people who get into recovery, at some point, food and sugar become an issue in their life. It serves as a secondary feel-good mechanism when they're not feeling great. But why is sugar so appealing? Why do some people struggle so much with it that it causes problems in their life?  On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane speaks with Mike Collins about the science behind sugar addiction and how it negatively impacts people in recovery. When Mike got sober, he went right back to sugar in massive amounts and a lot of people in recovery do that. Completely sugar-free for over 30 years now, Mike is the Chairman of the Board of a Food Addiction Institute that helps raise awareness about processed food and sugar worldwide. He is the founder of SugarAddiction.com which has been helping thousands successfully quit sugar for over nine years. Mike talks about the concept of an emotional management system where we are literally managing our emotions with a ubiquitous, almost free product that's available anywhere. Some people may stop for 30 days. But they revert back to their emotional management system, which has been co-opted by sugar.  There are two major things here. First is how the food industry has weaponized this knowledge of the neurological workings of our brain – sugar being the gateway drug. It has that long shelf life so it's cheap to manufacture. And once they get you kind of addicted to it, they keep selling it to you. It's not just food, it's a mood changer. Mike shares his own story of how sugar impacted his own life when he started recovery, the impact of sugar addiction, and how to work through that process and get away from sugar addiction.  In this episode, you will hear: Why sugar is the original gateway drug The science behind sugar addiction Why people are struggling with sugar addiction Sugar as a cultural norm Understanding the emotional management system The epidemic of overweight children and the real problem that’s causing it Key Quotes: [02:59] - “A group of people who are in recovery from drugs and alcohol have struggled with sugar.” [05:46] - “The nucleus accumbens, the dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, GABA, adrenal glands, oxytocin, even your endorphins – all these things are affected by sugar.” [07:32] - “We are literally managing our emotions with a ubiquitous, almost free product that's available anywhere.” [08:53] - “We have to separate hyper palatable foods and sugar from real food." [11:32] - “When you stop eating these refined carbohydrates and processed foods, even the gut biome has to start to shift and change and adapt to not having this product in the body.” [18:17] - “When you're consuming a large amount of sugar, your body is putting this hormone out that drives your behavior. Until you shift that, it becomes really hard to even stop the process.” [20:55] - “People fall back to the old emotional management system when something difficult comes up.” [35:13] - “We have an epidemic of overweight children, and they're not out shopping for food.” [36:19] - "The concept of calories needs to be destroyed. It's a ridiculous construct."  Supporting Resources: www.sugaraddiction.com Hooked: Food, Free Will, and How the Food Giants Exploit Our Addictions by Michael Moss https://www.amazon.com/Hooked-Food-Giants-Exploit-Addictions/dp/0812997298 Metabolical: The Lure and the Lies of Processed Food, Nutrition, and Modern Medicine by Robert H Lustig https://www.amazon.com/Metabolical-Processed-Nutrition-Modern-Medicine/dp/0063027712  Episode Credits If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.