Tom Stagg, LCSW

The Lizard Brain: How I Came To Learn that Addiction is a Disease In a bright, white auditorium on the rolling campus of a rehab center on the East Coast, I learned that addiction is a disease. The giant room was filled with addicts and alcoholics, including my t…

"Abandonment can feel raw and painful, just like trauma. When a client is abandoned, that painful experience can stay with them through life and be easily triggered. And when it does get triggered, it can flood the client with fear, panic, and intense shame."

Can't tell you how many times I see this happen. Medication in the vast, vast, vast majority of people provide the steam to "get over the hump" which allows them the opportunity to address their issues. When someone is in a Major Depressive episode it can be daunting to attempt to address it in therapy when the mere act of getting one foot in front of the other is sometimes insurmountable.

Opinion | Quitting my depression meds wasn't my happily-ever-after. Staying on them is. Even knowing there is a stigma against taking medication for my mental health didn't stop me from falling for it briefly.