Hi Reader, Sometimes, the things we do to survive childhood follow us into adulthood. And the pain we never talk about can show up in ways we don’t expect. This week, I sat down with Rich Dunning, author of Silence Was My First Language, to talk about childhood trauma, shame, and addiction. Rich grew up surrounded by abuse, alcoholism, and chaos. He built a successful career and a family, but alcohol became a way to cope with the pain he carried. Today, he is more than nine years sober and...

Hi Reader, Have you ever wondered if treating opioid addiction with buprenorphine is just replacing one opioid with another? It is a common question, and there is a lot of confusion around it. This week, I sat down with Nick Casale, PharmD, a pharmacist who has spent 15 years working in addiction medicine, to talk about what these medications actually do. We discussed how buprenorphine helps reduce cravings and withdrawal, why fentanyl has made treatment more complex, and how monthly...

Hi Reader, One of the harder parts of taking care of your mental health can be dealing with people who do not understand what you are going through. Sometimes friends or family mean well but say things like, “Why are you so stressed?” or “You seem fine to me.” The problem is that people only see what is happening on the outside. They do not always see the thoughts, anxiety, exhaustion, or emotional effort happening on the inside. Here is something important to remember: You do not need...