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Well, welcome back to Not Alone with Melissa Zoo.
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Today, I really do want to start with taking a pause.
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Taking a deep breath together.
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So close your eyes and taking a deep breath.
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Because today's episode is for anyone who has felt afraid.
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Afraid and alone.
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And they are struggling right now in addiction, in fear, in grief, and shame.
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Because all those things were so hard on ourselves when we do it again.
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We pick that old pattern up again.
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And I'm not just talking about alcohol.
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There's so many kinds of addiction.
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Social media is one.
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You know, there are so many addictions, and this is for you right now because there's so much fear.
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So much fear to recognize that old pattern.
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So we continue the numbing.
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We continue that old pattern.
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So I'm here for you today with a very special guest that I met on Rider's Island too.
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And the minute I met Lori and we talked, I knew her message was so important.
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In fact, I kept up going, okay, I need to have you on my podcast.
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I need to have you.
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But of course, you know, I'm not ready, I'm not sure, but I know how important her story is, her personal story, and her new book coming out soon, Born Addict, and her recovery program.
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She has been through it, the relapse, the chronic illness, the suicidal ideation.
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So this is for you.
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Or if you know anyone that is struggling right now, listen because there's a lot more to know than just to go for recovery and know.
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Okay, yes, you're you're sober now, you're in sobriety.
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But what's next?
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What's the missing link?
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And that is her program, the missing link.
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So today I want to welcome you, Lori, and for having the brevity to write your book, the bravery and the courage to speak your truth, to share your story, and to be here today as I don't know, is this your first podcast?
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Yes, Melissa.
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It is, yes.
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And I'm just so honored to be here.
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And you know, uh, yeah, it was something when we met on Rider's Island, and I just felt that connection with you right away when we started sharing.
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And, you know, it is it is a crisis right now in the recovery world and and mental health.
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Um, you know, what's going on out there is definitely a crisis.
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And and as soon as we started sharing, I knew that um we would meet again.
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Yeah, you know, absolutely.
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There's so much that I was curious about, you know, just your own personal journey and even the title of your book, Born Addict, really intrigued us because a lot of times we let's say we've had family members that were addicts.
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Oftentimes we kind of have that fear.
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Well, it's in my family.
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Maybe I'm gonna be more susceptible to addictions.
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And so there's almost that fear.
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And so I'd love to touch base as to why did you call it born addict?
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Yes, good question.
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You know, um, I've been in recovery 29 years.
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Actually, tomorrow will be 29 years, and congratulations, that's that's a big achievement.
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Yeah, and I and I only say that because um, you know, it's been that many years in recovery.
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Uh, prior to that, I was an active alcoholic, and prior to alcoholism, I was a hyperactive child with OCD and you know, just all the labels, the the hyperactivity and the fear and the shyness, and I never felt I never felt right, even as a child.
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And so when I started drinking at the age of 15, that was a solution because it took the shyness away, and I felt like I fit, and it and I felt normal.
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And so, you know, that was my solution for 20 years, but I, you know, I got married, I had children, and there were many bottoms along the way that you know, crisis, and um and you're saying there was fear when in the beginning you said as a child because the OCD behaviors and all that.
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I'm just curious, where was that fear coming from?
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Fear of judgment because of these behaviors, or fear, or was your environment were you living in fear, or uh yeah.
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So, you know, I was born to I was an only child, um, but my family, my mom was Italian, my grandparents lived right across the street.
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We had great, you know, I had great support.
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There wasn't any abuse, my dad was French.
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Uh, you know, we had we had family around.
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There wasn't uh, and my environment was northern Ontario, so plenty of lakes and um, you know, uh nature all around.
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I didn't have a traumatic childhood, but I always felt alone.
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And you know, being an only child, I guess I thought that was normal.
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Um, but there was something inside.
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I felt different.
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I always felt afraid.
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Um, you know, so this was this was like I felt like I was just like that since you know from the time I was born.
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Um, and and I needed something.
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And so, you know, early on it was sugar as a child, and you know how Italians eat, they love desserts and they have to eat everything.
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Everything was white, white sugar, white flour, you know, and uh there was drinking, of course, but I never saw anybody drunk, and so that, you know, alcoholism and being an alcoholic was shameful, but you know, I just didn't it didn't connect.
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And um, you know, as I started drinking in high school, uh, I was having blackouts and drinking to get drunk and drinking to escape and fit in, and you know, and and I thought, well, that's that's just normal too, right?
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But yeah, it was normalized, right?
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In college, and you're saying family-wise too, like culturally, it's very normalized to drink and have lots of drinks, yeah.
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But that was the 70s, late 70s, and into the 80s, and um, you know, what I know now was not all the teenagers in at hot in high school were getting drunk, people were partying, but I could see my group were extreme drinkers, and I was always intoxicated, and I was the last one to leave, and I could never get enough.
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Now, that's those are characteristics of of alcoholic drinking, you know.
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And um, as it progressed, it became chronic, where I couldn't go without it, and I was a young mom at that time, yeah, young, 26, with two young children, but I couldn't stop drinking.
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And would you hide it?
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Like I find a lot of people kind of hide it well, you know.
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Yeah, hiding it.
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And and I was in the airline industry, so I was working full-time and I was trying to hide the alcohol.
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I needed it to cope.
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Um, you know, so I thought it was it was my it was my solution from an early age, you know.
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Almost it seemed like it calm your nervous system.
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A lot of people, you know, with addicts, it kind of you you didn't hadn't learned the tools to calm your nervous system.
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And when you said you're feeling like alone and you're feeling uncomfortable, so that that drink released that for you, right?
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And that yeah, it calmed, it calmed the nervous system down, definitely.
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And you know, as a young child, even though I was out in nature all the time with my father and my grandfather fishing, hiking, out at lakes, I still was addicted to sugar.
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I still needed the sugar, and I was in an environment that was calming to my nervous system, but I still wanted that sugar, and then it switched to alcohol, which is sugar, basically does the same thing to the brain, you know, and so then it it progressed.
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And and you know, we say it becomes progressive chronic and it can be fatal, alcoholism and drug addiction.
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But you know, it was progressing in my 20s, and um, you know, I got sober when I was 36, so along that road, I had you know, I started going to treatment, first to detox, detoxes, and then to treatment, and throughout, you know, I go to treatment, I come home, and I'm back into the family, back to work, the stress, you know, the busyness, and I relapsed three times after every every treatment center, three times I would relapse.
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Um, the third time I was suicidal because the alcohol wasn't doing it anymore, it wasn't the fix.
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And you know, the bottoms and the crisis were becoming worse.
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So I had to actually leave the home and go live in a women's house for about six months.
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Um, where this is where the missing link comes in, but I didn't know it at the time.
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So, in the in the what we used to call it a halfway house, now we call it second stage housing, or you know, it was just a women's recovery home.
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Um, you know, you're fed three meals a day, you have time to do your prayers and meditations and journaling, go for walks, go to meetings, because most of us weren't back to work yet.
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We were in in this recovery home long term, so well fed, you know, um just using all the tools, right?
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And stable.
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And um at that time, I had my counselor said to me, you know, we we're gonna give you some B vitamins and some omega fish oils because we want to support, you know, you need some nutritional support.
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And that's the first time I ever heard of anything like that.
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None of the treatment centers were handing out vitamins, they were not talking about food, they were feeding us, but they weren't talking about blood sugars and you know, protein and how to eat in recovery.
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Um, so I got on those B vitamins and those omega oils, the fish oil, and I went home after six months, and that was when I stayed sober.
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Um, and so I started to do more research because I thought, like, what's different here?
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Why is it you get curious?
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You're like, what was different?
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Why is this time working?
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Yeah.
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Right.
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So um, you know, I went into 12-step recovery.
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My husband at the time was seven years sober, and our kids were um six and 10.
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And we carried on, and and you know, we were a family in recovery, and really it was miraculous that we were both sober, you know, that that we could, because it's not the story, it's not the norm today.
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Families are splitting up and things, you know, it's it's not uh there's not a high percentage of recovery today.
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So, you know, that was it's it's a blessing really that that we got this.
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And um so I started doing more research, and I was in 12-step recovery, and I found a book called Pass It On, and it was the story of Bill Wilson, who is the founder and the writer of the 12-step program, and um, so it was his autobiography, you know, how it all came to be, right?
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And um from 1939 and on, he died in 1971.
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And so at the very back of his story, um, he started talking about his 10 years of depression.
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Now, Alcoholics Anonymous is a spiritual program of action, right?
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Although they were the first program that ever coined alcoholism a disease, and that was by a doctor named Dr.
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Silkworth at Towns Hospital in New York, who had treated Bill.
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Um, and so he knew that it was a disease, but they didn't have any science at that time.
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He said it's a body and a brain issue, and the main problem is centers in the mind, and you know, so they didn't have a solution for that other than complete abstinence.
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And then Bill had a session and was able to talk with Carl Jung.
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Carl Jung, right, the great psychiatrist, and he said, people with addictions need a spiritual awakening, and that will remove the obsession to drink, and so this worked for Bill, and it was how the 12-step program of recovery came into being, and then Bill wrote up based on those two experts' opinions, and um, and it worked, right?
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And now there's over 200 12-step programs for every known behavioral addiction or substance abuse, right?
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Disorder.
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Um, but as Bill's story went on, he suffered 10 years of depression, and here is the spiritual person, like the most spiritual person that you could imagine in this program, right?
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He, I mean, he helped hundreds of people and and gave us the program, but he was depressed to the point of suicidal for 10 years of his sobriety.
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And I thought, well, how can that be?
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You know, it's a spiritual program.
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Shouldn't all the spiritual work and the emotional work be enough?
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Why are why is he depressed?
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He's our our guru, right?
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He is you think of people like oh, but even pastors are depressed, and thinking you're like, well, there's so it, you know, connected with God and a believer.
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So what's the and that's why I love it because it's bridging you need spirituality, but also you need science and you need you know, mind and body, and that's what you're saying.
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And that's the whole basis, right?
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And so I'm getting around to why I called the book Born Addict, but this is part of it.
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And so I started researching Bill Wilson and how did he get out of his depression?
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And you know, he tried LSD, and that gave him another spiritual awakening for a while, and he rode that for a bit, and he thought this must be the answer, but then the depression came back, and now today we know that lack of serotonin can cause depression.
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I mean, they didn't have the science then, and Bill was also a heavy smoker and a heavy coffee drinker, you know.
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Um, so he found a doctor named Dr.
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Abram Hoffer.
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Now, Dr.
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Hoffer was a uh orthomolecular uh scientist and a psychiatrist, and Dr.
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Hoffer was treating people with niacin, which is vitamin B3, and it was actually at a hospital in Saskatchewan, at a psych hospital in Saskatchewan, and Bill found him and he said, Can you help me?
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So Dr.
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Hoffer started giving Bill 3,000 um milligrams of ivy niacin, and Bill's depression lifted within two weeks.
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The suicidal ideation went away, his depression lifted, and he thought this is a cure.
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So Dr.
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Hofer was working with uh schizophrenics and alcoholics at that hospital, and he had over 5,000 case studies, and he had cured a lot of people.
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And I used the word cure because he wrote the book, The Vitamin Cure for Alcoholism.
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Now I thought, so I'm doing my own, you know.
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I'm like, well, okay, this is why the B vitamins I'm taking.
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How did that obsession go away?
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It wasn't only a spiritual awakening, it was some support, it was the support of the vitamins.
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And as Bill's story went on, you know, he never like he did he wrote the vitamin B papers, and Dr.
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Hofer and him approached um the 12-step program and said, can we add nutrition to the program?
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And they said, No, we're not bringing nutrition in here.
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There's no sign.
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No, no, no.
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And so uh then, you know, Bill died of actually died of emphysema because he never stopped smoking.
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So we know today that smoking depletes, well, it depletes serotonin and it also activates the dopamine loop.
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So it was always stimulating him for dopamine, hence the caffeine, and you know, uh, you know, I don't know his sugar intake, but this story, Bill's book and his autobiography hit me like a ton of bricks because I'm I thought, you know, I go to meetings, I work the program really hard, I help other people, I do my spiritual work.
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Yet I started having depression at three years sober.
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And later on, I started with panic attacks and anxiety, and you know, I'm doing everything right.
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Why am I relapsing?
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I I wasn't relapsing, but I was relapsing on the treatment cycle, right?
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And um so Bill's story really fascinated me and Dr.
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Hofer.
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And I thought that's so fast.
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Even as you're talking, I'm thinking, oh, how many kids really, like you mentioned when you were young, crave the sugar.
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I see that in my kids at times.
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Now, since we've done gone the road of detox and awareness of the gut issues and whatnot, and doing the supplements.
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I noticed they were really craving the sugar and that dopamine hit, even the scrolling, the videos, you know, they're watching, and they're always constantly so almost, those are the signs almost.
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What are they gonna go to when they're teenagers and adults instead, right?
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So learn so it's almost a call.
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So what what do you think?
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Like when you're having that sugar craving, you're wanting that serotonin or a dopamine hit?
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Or yeah, so so as I started to research this, um, and I'm watching people in meetings, and you know, we're eating cake and sugar, cookies, we're bringing them to the meetings, we're having having so much caffeine and people are not drinking or doing their drugs anymore but they're still smoking and um and so you know dopamine is uh is the is the what we're looking for it's uh you know dr hoffer applied vitamin therapy which which helped he never really went into the neurotransmitters right like the niacin helped for Bill because it helped to um to support the serotonin right but the dopamine was still being stimulated that the need for for dopamine right so that so what I'm trying to say is like the switching addictions that happens say what in you know any 12-step program we give up the drugs we give up the alcohol then the sugar then we go back to sugar and I did that too right and then people don't quit smoking and then the caffeine is there then the behavior you know so say somebody gives up all of that right but then the behavioral addiction starts so obsessing on you know social media um gambling shopping I mean you can name you know just go on and on because they become obsessions so the search for dopamine is still there because the brain hasn't been fed it's we still have a starving brain and and so this is where I started researching Dr.
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Kenneth Bloom B-L-U-M and he is a pioneer he's 86 years old now he's got over 400 PubMed articles he's a scientist he's a neuroscientist and he is you know he's actually coined like the um genetic doc um grandfather of psychiatry because he's linked the genetics to addiction and um so he's he's developed um what he calls reward deficiency syndrome and there are genes there's four genes about maybe more uh that that are definitely linked to the disease of alcoholism and drug addictions and all addictions and he wrote an article called all roads lead to dopamine so this linked so this became my you know what I started to research about myself I got my genetics done and I found the reward deficiency syndrome genes and then through his papers and I he uses the word we are often born and genetically predisposed we are born with this DNA and those genes um you know they're either turned on or turned off we now know about epigenetics right but those genes are your DNA you know what I found out was for me this is what I was born with it's kind of like that's the gun and the environment and the trauma is the trigger.
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The trigger yeah to the activator to catalyst it's the catalyst but here's what I've been given and I was born with these with these genes and I was genetically predisposed already to addiction so that's where you know I traced it all the way back to my mom and my mom's genetics and she was she wasn't an alcoholic or a drug addict or but she was definitely um manic depressive she was on you know lots of different anti-anxiety medications she was undermethylated is a genetic you know yeah tested for that me and my kids actually the MTHFR so there was so much and and I thought I was born addict and I don't like the label addict or alcoholic because I I don't believe in the label but you know I had to that title for me was the truth it was the truth of of me and I became my own case study and so this is what I did with you know Bill and Dr.
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Hoffer and now Dr.
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Kenneth Bloom his theory and his uh research has shown that we need to stabilize the dopamine neurotransmitters because there's a cascade that happens it's not you know we dopamine is the master regulator and then there's the serotonin so there's a cascade you know serotonin GABA and all the other neurotransmitters but dopamine is the master when we how do you stabilize it like how what's there's so much out there that always triggers us right like you said the sugars the the strolling the uh so much right all of it so this you know we need dopamine repair we need brain repair and so neurotransmitters can be built with vitamins minerals and amino acids okay protein so my program is food first because a lot of people with addictions don't eat you know and you you know we might eat breakfast and go all day and then and then have dinner well in between we've got hypoglycemia low blood sugars happening and we go looking for sugar caffeine carbs right and dopamine scrolling you know dopamine we're looking for something right to fill to stop the emotions but to fulfill what the need for you know the craving um so food first imbalance that you're feeling nervous system wise I am balanced like you said right so your nervous system is upset your nervous system is in fight or flight your brain is you know looking is starving basically your brain is starving yeah it's missing all these nutrients the new yeah it's new new you know we're nutritionally um depleted and when we feed the brain first and we have a stable foundation then a person can actually grasp the tools of recovery until then you know you can stop drinking and stop drugs but you're still looking for something else because of the dopamine the dopamine that the cravings are so loud you know so if we can help quiet those down by stabilizing you know through like you said nutrition that's why I had a guess actually in the beef industry is like okay it has to start even in the soil what we're feeding the the animals our food source because we're craving these nutrients we're screaming for rich uh nutrient rich foods right so most people are deficient like all right so you know somebody who's been drinking and doing drugs for years is completely depleted uh in their body of vitamins and minerals oh I see it I see it in the mouth I you know I would see right away if they're recovering meth addicts and whatnot in their teeth and it's exactly it it's it it took away all the nutrients to their teeth and they're completely blacked out you know and they're all broken.
00:30:34.319 --> 00:32:20.240
Right teeth hair I mean it's everything right and you know how can we expect to take away the drugs and the alcohol and for a person to go and sit and be counseled and actually grasp you know grasp those tools and the understanding of how to recover and how to be in the world now without a substance their nervous systems are wired their brains are depleted their bodies are falling apart and and so we go to rehab we go to treatment and we're well fed in there right but there's also vending machines with pop and chocolate bars and people are also smoking in there and drinking caffeine now they're not all the same like some rehab centers are different where they've taken all that out but basically there is no education on how to eat what your body needs what happens when you have low blood sugar and you have insulin spikes well you get anxiety you get shaky you you get angry you know you're exhausted and you're going to go look for something yeah because you're about you're crashing you know and it's so we do the 30 60 90 days and we have no teaching in there and then we send them on their way and they're not taught how to eat right I wasn't I would crash and I didn't know what was happening to me.
00:32:20.319 --> 00:32:27.359
I'd be walking around the grocery store and be dizzy and shaky and I didn't know what was going on.
00:32:27.839 --> 00:33:51.839
And so this is you know this is my mission with Missing Link is you need to learn how to eat stabilize blood sugars and you know what to eat how to eat when to eat stabilize your nervous system and then we do you know supplementation because you need to build up your body and your brain so it's vitamins minerals you know foundational support and then amino acids so amino acids we use targeted amino acids for dopamine and to um to give the brain the dopamine that it's craving through supplementation right and also serotonin and and so we have you know but we we target the dopamine first with all those cofactors to balance the brain to feed it so a person can be walk you know have some stability and then start their journey down the emotional healing the spiritual path because when your brain is starving you're in and out of fight or flight all the time right the prefrontal frontal cortex is still on alert.
00:33:52.079 --> 00:34:00.640
Yeah it's all in flame I actually went to a brain scan for my son and that's where it was all in flame he was still in the fight and flight.
00:34:00.880 --> 00:35:44.480
Right and and we can't expect children to calm down so it goes back to my hyperactivity as a child you know and I mean I used to get treats to calm that down you know like you and you see that with a lot of kids that are ADHD you know they get the sugar cravings and all that the dope is the dopamine right yeah it is the dopamine but it's also if you look up um symptoms of low blood sugar which a lot of kids are having but they're being labeled ADHD you look up those symptoms inability to focus no mental clarity hyperactivity um fatigue you know wired and tired restless irritable discontent those are words we use in recovery and and we've been taught that those are psychological but they're physical and this is happening with our children we're not feeding them protein oh yeah true right nutrition is so poor like at the schools I'm like oh it's terrible sometimes I'll do the hot lunch but I'm like oh no it's it's terrible it's awful it what we're feeding our kids and so these kids are wired and tired you know they are your body needs nutritional support and the brain needs amino acids now in beef you know it's loaded with B vitamins zinc minerals other minerals and amino acids yeah everything yeah it's zinc right they're the building blocks and they so Dr.
00:35:44.719 --> 00:36:35.519
Bloom you know he believes that we need dopamine homostasis right like we need to get the brain to start to produce its own dopamine naturally so for so we support with the combination of amino acids and you know vitamins and slowly a person can come off of that because the brain will get to homostasis so that means I'm not gonna go out looking for sugar and caffeine and I'm not gonna go on a shopping binge and you know I'm not gonna drink but I'm not gonna go into all these other destructive behaviors because I'm still looking for dopamine.
00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:58.559
Wow I love that you incorporate that this is so important and I I love you also bridge spirituality to it as well because that's kind of I always feel like that's the umbrella but you're there's the uh there's the science behind it as well yeah and this is where you know today where science meets recovery and Dr.
00:36:58.639 --> 00:37:42.880
Bloom I mean they've done research he has 70 scientists under him and he works in Dallas still he's 86 and they have pinpointed chronic pain you know um opioid addictions all these other addictions they've tested it on on animals they have brain scans you know this this is the truth this is genetic predisposition and if we test our children and we know and we start feeding them at a young age and we never trigger those genes then we're not we're not you know developing young addicts in our families.
00:37:43.199 --> 00:42:17.199
Wow and so what are those tests I'm curious like is it a are you saying the brain scans or are you saying just seeing the nutrients what they're lacking what kind of tests would that be um well genetic testing genetic testing okay yeah genetic testing and uh you know we can actually stop addiction in its tracks if we have the genetic profile of our children and you know like I knew I had an uncle who was an alcoholic my dad was insulin dependent and his dad was insulin dependent so here we go with the metabolic disorder so as I when I got my genetic tests I'm like wow like okay yeah I have a metabolic disorder hence sugar addiction uh low blood sugar hypoglycemia diabetes that's all metabolic and alcohol is the trigger for sure for turning on that genetic predisposition right on my mom's side it was mental health mental illness with methylation her manic depression her postpartum psychosis her breakdown after I was born you know like it it was it made it so clear when I saw my genetics and so then the Born Addictit came to me in the morning I think it it was uh you know a spiritual um download from God because it was almost like this relieves shame yes stop stigma this is this is me this is what happened this is my story I was born from two people who had were you know who well what's the word you know my parents set me up for this genetically and ancestral like you can go back further uh three generations and see these patterns you know and so in my sobriety um you know stress stress in I I so I went through divorce at uh 50 I was 20 years sober and I was in menopause so I found out that I was undermethylated and that affects hormones our brand you know mental stability I had a complete breakdown I didn't relapse with alcohol but I went down the um mental illness yeah I feel I'm glad you bring that up because yeah I got tested for the MTHFR gene and I get my hormones checked which I think any woman who's getting in a 40s or man hormones play a huge role in your mental health and the fluctuation yeah yeah and if you're you know genetically uh undermethylating as a as a pregnant woman you know you're gonna have a lot of postpartum uh depression and my mom had psychosis you know and then in menopause it hit me and it was panic attacks and anxiety suicidal ideation you know so then I started looking at all of this and and then I started writing because you know my children need to know this my grandchildren and so it's all there mental health mental illness addiction and I mean you know if I would have if my parents would have known this we could have done something yeah so you're empowering people with this knowledge it's your hard-earned wisdom you know it's been really right yeah it's really you know and you know the thing is is that the shame and the stigma that goes with addiction and what's happening now is that people are going to treatment you know five 10 15 times and I see the stories and I hear them over and over and over and you know the relapse cycle is so it's so out of control.
00:42:18.800 --> 00:44:03.920
And we're not bringing brain first recovery into the centers and it is a missing link because if you can stabilize the brain while you're in treatment we're opening Pandora's box with all our trauma and our emotional stuff and pain we're opening all that up in treatment and in rehab and you know it's it's exhausting but it's also very triggering and so if a brain isn't supported there is no way a person can process all of that and that happened to me you know it happened to me I left that treatment center I went heavy into the steps I did my moral inventory and then when it came to making amends it was so overwhelming I wasn't stable and I became suicidal you know so this is what's happening people relapse we're going back into this rehab and doing the same thing again and not being supported uh you know genetically um uh brain-wise body you know we're we're just running on empty and this is and we're expecting people we're expecting people to recover recover in that shame and not equipped with the knowledge of the brain health nutrition and and that shame that shame is probably where they're like I don't I'm such a burden I don't want to be around anymore and that's something Continues that shame because they go back like why can I not get it?
00:44:04.000 --> 00:44:12.719
You know, or even they they are sober now, but like you said, the the depression is there, they're still not finding a lot of joy out of being sober.
00:44:13.039 --> 00:44:20.639
And how can we help them live a life of vitality and joy and and fun again?
00:44:20.880 --> 00:44:28.559
And and that takes uh, like you said, the brain balance and and right, just um it really does.
00:44:28.719 --> 00:44:31.599
It it really does because it's not working.
00:44:31.760 --> 00:45:04.480
What what's happening out there is is families are just breaking down and people are going more and more into despair, and then you know, the thing is if they might not pick up their drug of choice, but then the mental health goes down, and so this is what's happening, and then we're you know, um medicating people that are clean and sober with pharmaceutical medications, which sometimes work, but a lot of times don't, right?
00:45:04.639 --> 00:45:24.880
There's so many side effects, and so the solution is uh it really is nutrition and brain support to turn off those genes to stop the hypoglycemia and to support and regulate the nervous system.
00:45:25.119 --> 00:45:26.239
Yeah, I love that.
00:45:26.400 --> 00:45:30.880
So now, I mean, this is such important work, and I'm so proud of you, by the way.
00:45:31.039 --> 00:45:42.239
And so, how can people work with you, start this program, or uh so just share I'll put it all in the show notes, of course, but how they can find you.
00:45:42.880 --> 00:45:43.199
Okay.
00:45:44.079 --> 00:45:50.000
So I'm just gonna read this because I wrote it up and it's um really a summary.
00:45:50.159 --> 00:46:07.519
Uh, what I do at Missing Link Recovery Solutions is we teach brain first, food first approach, then we supplement, and we go through um a whole dietary program with you.
00:46:07.679 --> 00:46:17.199
We look at all your nutritional needs, um, you know, how you're sleeping, what you're eating, what your environment's like.
00:46:17.360 --> 00:46:33.679
I mean, we go through everything, set you up on a program that is supported so that you can go to the your program of choice that that is going to support you, and and you know, that you can recover.
00:46:34.480 --> 00:46:44.559
So we take away the I'm always in recovery, because recovery should lead to being recovered, right?
00:46:44.800 --> 00:46:45.760
We recover.
00:46:46.719 --> 00:47:07.039
And and when the brain and the body are supported, we can take away that label and that life sentence that we're in recovery and that we don't live happy, joyous, and free, but with this um underlying like fear, you know.
00:47:07.280 --> 00:47:15.440
So sobriety is not the finish line, it's just the beginning, and biochemical repair is the missing link.
00:47:15.599 --> 00:47:41.760
Um, so you know, recovery is both science and soul, and the staffs are just the you know, open the door, but biochemical repair gives them support, you know, so that they can um yeah, just be part of society and be normal and live happy.
00:47:42.079 --> 00:48:00.559
And uh, you know, I just I I always tell people like they're not broken, and this isn't a moral issue, it's it's not a willpower issue, it's a brain depletion and dysregulation problem.
00:48:01.280 --> 00:48:31.440
Um, so you know, which hopefully will relieve the shame by you saying, because once they understand this that they're not moral, you know, morally weak, but they have a disease, just like any other disease, but it's been so stigmatized in society and shamed because it really, I mean, of course, the symptoms are horrible.
00:48:31.599 --> 00:48:44.719
You know, when you've got alcohol and drugs in your system, you are just out to find more, and you hurt a lot of people, and you know, the shame and care of carrying that.
00:48:45.039 --> 00:48:55.760
Oh, I saw with my own husband that he had, you know, it was store started with the opioids, and then it was the alcohol, then the alcohol was an everyday thing, and then I would find bottles on the ground.
00:48:55.840 --> 00:49:02.320
I would it was just it just it and the shame the shame to even allow for him.
00:49:02.480 --> 00:49:11.039
It was even all allowing himself to see that, to to see that that was an issue and now uh he needs help, you know.
00:49:11.199 --> 00:49:20.320
And so and I think for a lot of people it's that that first step is knowing that it's to release that shame, you know.
00:49:20.400 --> 00:49:30.800
People are gonna love you no matter what, you know, they're actually gonna probably be really honored and see you, your strength, for saying, Hey, I I've lost control.
00:49:31.360 --> 00:49:46.960
Yeah, and and there is something, you know, to surrender and say that you need help and um that I have lost control and I can't do this alone, you know.
00:49:47.199 --> 00:50:02.079
I found that in 12-step recovery, but I knew there was a missing link, and I traced it back to Bill, you know, and I I just honor him for going forward and finding Dr.
00:50:02.320 --> 00:50:05.360
Hofer, and that was the start, you know.
00:50:05.519 --> 00:50:46.079
And in 1956, the American Medical Association said alcoholism is a disease, and in 1957, the American Psychiatric Association said this is a disease, addiction is a disease that was in the 50s, and then it got changed to be a psychological problem issue, and we started down the whole counseling route, and that trauma is the root of addiction, and then it's lack of connection, and we've been trying that.
00:50:46.559 --> 00:51:06.079
We've been trying to treat the disease of addiction as a moral, emotional, a trauma-based lack of connection syndrome or or or not a disease.
00:51:07.199 --> 00:51:10.000
And now science, Dr.
00:51:10.159 --> 00:51:23.840
Bloom, and all the pioneers that aren't even alive anymore, they knew even the one of the signers of the um Dr.
00:51:24.079 --> 00:51:30.320
Benjamin Rush was one of the signers of the um what do you call it?
00:51:30.559 --> 00:51:35.360
The American um instant independence.
00:51:35.599 --> 00:51:43.760
Oh, I can't it as a disease back way back in the early 1900s.
00:51:44.000 --> 00:51:53.199
And so, you know, in my book, I go back in history and and I try to figure out where did this get lost, what happened here.
00:51:53.840 --> 00:52:15.360
So I'm really, you know, I just wanted to tell people today if they're struggling with relapse, have had many treatments and uh rehab centers, and feel like recovery should be easier by now, I just really want you to hear this that there is a way out.
00:52:15.679 --> 00:52:20.719
You're not broken, you're not weak, and you're definitely not alone.
00:52:21.280 --> 00:52:35.039
So if you're staying sober but still battling anxiety, depression, cravings, exhaustion, and overwhelm, it's just because the brain and the body are still under repaired.
00:52:35.360 --> 00:52:46.159
So if we feed the brain first, this is the missing link, and recovery is possible, and you don't have to do it the hard way.
00:52:46.400 --> 00:52:47.599
So reach out to me.
00:52:47.679 --> 00:52:51.679
I'm Lori at Missing Link Recovery Solutions.com.
00:52:52.400 --> 00:52:53.760
Yes, I love it.
00:52:54.079 --> 00:53:04.000
That was perfect, and thank you so much, Lori, for joining us and your important sharing your important work, and uh I'm just honored to have met you.
