"The Addicted Mind Podcast" offers hope, understanding, and guidance for those dealing with addiction, with real stories and research to inspire and show the journey to recovery is worth it.
You Don't Have to Explain Everything
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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 everyone to understand how you feel for your feelings to be valid. You can explain what you need. You can set boundaries. You can tell people how they can support you. But you cannot force someone to understand something they have never experienced themselves. And sometimes protecting your mental health means spending more time with people who listen and less time trying to convince people who do not. You are allowed to take care of yourself, even when other people do not completely understand why. You do not need a permission slip to protect your peace. With you, Duane |
The Addicted Mind Podcast
"The Addicted Mind Podcast" offers hope, understanding, and guidance for those dealing with addiction, with real stories and research to inspire and show the journey to recovery is worth it.
Hi Reader, This week on the podcast, I had a really interesting conversation with Dr. Maria Cichosz about how our culture shapes the way we think about addiction. Maria is a writer and scholar who has also experienced addiction in her own life and family. We talked about how our ideas about addiction have changed over time, from seeing it as a choice or weakness to viewing it as a brain disease. But what if none of those explanations tell the whole story? We talked about the powerful role...
Hi Reader, Sometimes what looks like losing motivation is actually depression showing up. Depression does not always look like sadness. It can look like feeling numb, withdrawing from people, losing interest in things you normally enjoy, sleeping too much or too little, feeling hopeless, or having a hard time doing even simple things. It can be easy to mistake those signs for laziness, lack of progress, or just having a bad week. So pay attention to changes that stick around. If you notice...
Hi Reader, Are you giving yourself enough credit for the little victories? Recovery is not about getting everything right. It is about noticing the moments when you are doing something different, making a healthier choice, or simply showing up for yourself. Maybe you handled a trigger without falling into an old pattern. Maybe you reached out instead of isolating. Maybe you caught a negative thought before it took over. Maybe you got through a difficult day without giving up. Those moments...