A prescription is supposed to help you get your life back. What happens when it quietly takes it away instead? I sit down with Stephanie Starr, a program manager and graduate student, whose search for mental health support after a traumatic birth turned into a devastating chain of misdiagnosis, escalating medications, and loss of trust in healthcare.

Stephanie walks us through being told she had bipolar disorder, being put on a rotating “cocktail” of psychiatric meds, and how side effects and instability can snowball into riskier choices, deeper shame, and substance use. We talk openly about benzodiazepines, the warning signs of a pill mill style clinic, and why “just follow doctor’s orders” is not enough when the diagnosis is shaky and the treatment plan only involves more and more medication. Her story also includes the realities of trauma, a suicide attempt, and the way stigma can show up in the very places people go for help.

From there, we shift into recovery and what actually sustains it. Stephanie shares how faith and a higher power became central for her, while also naming the harm that can happen in faith-based recovery spaces that push “just pray it away” thinking or shame people who need medication. We dig into emotional sobriety, AA-style accountability, therapy tools like EMDR, and how learning to tolerate discomfort can be a turning point in addiction recovery.

If this conversation helps you, subscribe, share it with someone who needs hope, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

To contact Dr. Grover: ammadeeasy@fastmail.com

Psychiatric meds can feel like a maze when someone is trying to get sober and also sleep, focus, and stop panic spirals all in the same week. We made this updated, practical overview to simplify psychopharmacology for addiction treatment and recovery, using plain language and real clinical decision-making instead of jargon or hype.

We start by clearing up a viral rumor and then zoom out to how medications are actually created: research pathways, FDA indications, “me-too” drugs, and why off-label prescribing is so common in psychiatry. From there, we walk through the major medication classes and what they are truly used for, including antidepressants (SSRIs, SNRIs, mirtazapine, bupropion), anxiety and insomnia options that are less risky in recovery, and the basics of antipsychotics and mood stabilisers for severe symptoms like psychosis and bipolar disorder. We also touch on pharmacogenomics testing such as GeneSight and why individual response can still require careful trial and adjustment.

Because addiction medicine demands extra caution, we spend real time on benzodiazepine risks, why Z-drugs like Ambien can be problematic, and what we reach for instead when someone needs immediate anxiety relief while antidepressants take weeks to work. We wrap with a clinical case that shows how we prioritise conditions, pick meds that can treat more than one target, and avoid starting too many at once.

If this helps you, subscribe, share it with a colleague, and leave a rating or review so more people can find the show.

To contact Dr. Grover: ammadeeasy@fastmail.com

Kratom is being sold like a simple plant, but the way it’s packaged, concentrated, and marketed in 2026 can turn it into something much closer to an opioid problem hiding in plain sight. We’re taking you through a practical, clinician-friendly update drawn from a talk I gave to local therapists and drug and alcohol counselors, especially as the political and regulatory landscape shifts and bans and enforcement efforts expand in places like California.

We break down what kratom is (Mitragyna speciosa), why it can feel stimulating at low doses, and why higher doses bring opioid-receptor effects that can lead to tolerance, dependence, and withdrawal. We also cover what kratom overdose can look like, why mixing kratom with fentanyl, alcohol, or THC raises risk, and why naloxone still belongs in the conversation even when the data is often limited to case reports.

Then we get real about how people actually encounter kratom today: smoke shop “strain” menus, euphoric promises, and an online retail experience that’s faster and easier than getting medical care. The most important update is potency. Extracts are changing the game, and 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) may be sold under the kratom label while acting like a far more powerful opioid. Finally, we lay out treatment pathways we use in addiction medicine, including comfort meds, tapering, Suboxone or methadone, and long-acting injectable buprenorphine (Sublocade/Brixadi) that can help some people step down without a brutal withdrawal.

If this helped you understand kratom, share it with a colleague or a friend, subscribe for more practical addiction medicine, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

To contact Dr. Grover: ammadeeasy@fastmail.com

To see the podcast's ranking on millionpodcasts.com:

https://www.millionpodcasts.com/addiction-medicine-podcasts/