The Recovered Life Show | Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Podcast

Up to 9 in 10 people with depression also struggle with disturbed sleep — and new research says that leftover insomnia may be exactly why depression keeps coming back. Sleep researcher Vanika Lall of the University of Western Australia joins Damon to break down her Sleep Well for Mood study: when people with depression treated their insomnia with CBT-I — cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia — their depression improved too, and their recovery lasted longer. Vanika explains why insomnia often survives depression treatment, why it is the quality of your sleep (not just the hours) that moves your mood, and the three core tools of CBT-I: quieting the racing mind, stimulus control, and sleep restriction. Plus: what this means for people in addiction recovery, where being tired is one of the classic HALT relapse triggers — and why Vanika says even 20 or 30 years of chronic insomnia is treatable. Join the Recovered Life Community here. Find out how to work with Damon here.

Why does willpower collapse right in the middle of a craving? Dr. Thomas Elston, assistant professor of neuroscience at the University of Texas at Austin, shares his lab's new study in the journal Neuron that captured something never seen before: the brain catching itself mid-impulse, as one brain region interrupts another's autopilot to deploy self-control. Damon and Dr. Elston break down the tug-of-war between impulse and self-control, what it means for addiction and OCD, and why struggling to say no is a brain circuit issue — not a character flaw. Join the Recovered Life Community here. Find out how to work with Damon here.

You put down the alcohol or the drugs — and picked up sugar instead. If that sounds familiar, this Halloween episode is for you. Molly Carmel, an addictions and eating-disorder therapist and the author of Breaking Up with Sugar, joins Damon to talk about the addiction nobody takes seriously: sugar. Molly nearly died of food addiction herself, and she explains why sugar is so hard to quit — you've been in a relationship with it since your first birthday cake, you can't simply stop eating, and today's ultra-processed food is not your grandma's sugar. They also get into why Halloween kicks off the "Bermuda Triangle" of relapse season — Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas — and how to make it through without trading one addiction for another. Join the Recovered Life Community here. Find out how to work with Damon here.

In this episode of The Recovered Life Show, we tackle the rising controversy surrounding kratom and concentrated 7-OH (7-hydroxymitragynine) products head-on. Joined by leading University of Florida researchers Dr. Chris McCurdy, Dr. Oliver Grundmann, and Dr. Abhisheak Sharma, we break down the critical pharmacological differences between whole-leaf kratom and modern semi-synthetic extracts. The panel dives into how concentrated 7-OH acts as a potent opioid receptor agonist, why it carries rapid tolerance and intense withdrawal profiles, the unregulated market filling vape shops with mislabeled products, and the severe risks these formulations pose to individuals in recovery. Join the Recovered Life Community here. Find out how to work with Damon here.

Have you ever been told to "just move on" from a painful past experience, only to find that your body and emotions refuse to cooperate? In this insightful episode of The Recovered Life Show, host Damon Frank is joined by clinical psychologist Dr. Lisa Robinson, who specializes in trauma, anxiety, and EMDR therapy. Together, they break down why healing from trauma isn't as simple as making an intellectual decision to move forward. Dr. Robinson explains how unprocessed traumatic memories get stuck in the nervous system, what actually happens in the brain during a trauma trigger, and the deep connection between early childhood neglect, trauma responses, and addictive behaviors. The conversation also covers the fundamental differences between traditional talk therapy and bottom-up approaches like EMDR, practical strategies for regaining control of your nervous system, and why full recovery and post-traumatic growth are truly possible. Check out more about Recovered Life TV here. Join the Recovered Life Community here. Find out how to work with Damon here. Join the Recovered Life Community here. Find out how to work with Damon here.