Have you ever wondered if your stroke was a punishment from God? Many stroke survivors tell me they believe it. They think the stroke came as payback for something they did in the past, or that it was sent to teach them a lesson.

In this short solo episode I explain why that belief isn't true, and why hanging on to it slows your recovery. If God punished people with strokes, why do so many people who have done terrible things live to 90 without one? I talk about where this kind of religious guilt usually comes from.

It tends to get passed down by an elder, a parent or someone in the community who wanted people to keep showing up at church or temple and didn't know another way to motivate them. I also separate guilt from responsibility. Alcohol, drugs, diet and inactivity can all play a part in a stroke.

Changing those habits is responsibility. Punishing yourself for them is guilt. My stroke happened at 37, when a blood vessel I was born with burst. I was also smoking and drinking at the time. I changed how I lived, but I didn't carry the guilt, and that decision made room for my recovery.

Dr. Robert Hedaya, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University School of Medicine and a pioneer of functional medicine psychiatry, returns for his fourth and final conversation on Recovery After Stroke.

He founded the Whole Psychiatry & Brain Recovery Center in New Jersey. Together, we cut through the nutrition noise and look at a passive therapy called HYLANE, including what it can't do.

If you had a stroke, you probably think the thing you need most is more therapy. I asked 83 stroke survivors and carers what they'd change about their recovery. The most common answer wasn't a body part. So what was it, and why do people who are getting therapy still feel like they're doing it alone?

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• What 83 stroke survivors and carers said they'd change about their recovery, and the answer that surprised me
• Why nearly half don't feel supported, informed or empowered, even when they're in therapy
• What a Cochrane review of 21 trials found when survivors got better information about their stroke
• How self-management skills like goal-setting and problem-solving relate to quality of life after stroke
• Three things to do this week to take more ownership of your recovery