Understanding Autism and Addiction with Alex Pearson
We have wanted to address this today's topic for several years and struggled to find an individual we felt could inform and teach the complex and important topic of autism and addiction. We are excited to introduce the Team to Alexandra Pearson. Alex has a masters degree in industrial organizational psychology and was recently diagnosed with autism. Alex describes herself as 'living in the gap between the Neurotypical and Neurodivergent' (ND) worlds, as she has always worked with and intuitively understood ND's, yet pretending to be Neurotypical, via her ability to hide her autistic traits. Her social media influence expanding awareness, education, and advocacy to autism, has made a huge impact on Coach Blu and Athletic Director Marissa.
A study out of Sweden suggests that people with autism who have average or above-average intelligence quotients (IQs) are more than twice as likely to become addicted to drugs or alcohol as their peers are. The risk is even higher for people who also have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study is the first to look at the general risk for addiction among people with autism.
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One on One with Coach Blu: Sober Living
On this week's podcast Coach Blu discusses his thoughts and the unfortunate situation is that typically plague sober living houses. Listen as they take a deep dive into the mechanisms of sober living, the benefits, and the struggles and things you need to know. They process dual diagnosis issues that typically are overlooked or not observed in sober living situations and also how to recognize if you are in unhealthy relationships. They answer a spouse's question on how to help and not enable a partner who struggles with addiction. Lastly, the list ways to identify a toxic relationship and traits of healthy relationships.
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How to Rebuild Relationships After Addiction
Whether you have struggled with addiction yourself or a loved one has, there is no denying that the person using drugs or alcohol is not the only one suffering from the effects of substance abuse.
On this week's podcast, the Agents of Recovery Max, Blu, and Brock discuss rebuilding relationships with your loved one or significant other. More often than not, your loved one likely has the most love for you and may have also closely experienced the changes addiction caused. They may struggle with trust issues and emotional damage that were created during your period of substance abuse. Listen as they discuss skills and how to rebuild these relationships through recovery.
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At The Core Of Addiction
Have you ever wondered what's at the core of addiction? What is the causality of addiction? Have you ever wondered what it is that created your addiction in the first place? Do you know the difference between recovery and healing from addiction? Do you know how important it is for you to strengthen your mind and change your thinking in order to recover and heal from addiction? These are questions answered and discussed on this week's podcast. Listen as Coach Blu describes his approach to addiction recovery, using your mind as a tool rather than an obstacle and being able to truly identify what caused your addiction in the first place. There are so many pathways to recovery that more information and more tools you can use to overcome trauma, addiction, and mental health could only strengthen your overall understanding and pursuit of a sober lifestyle.
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Freedom of Recovery vs Captivity of Addiction
This week the Agents of Recovery discuss the differences between the freedom of recovery and the captivity of addiction. Listen as they take a deep dive into the aspects of the freedom you're able to achieve once you place yourself on the path of recovery and sobriety. Understand the captivity that addiction attempts to convince the addict that comfort is found in its ugly grip. We all possess the ability to choose even at the darkest times of our lives, therefore all we need is the right leverage, motivation, and mentors to help us make it possible.
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Beyond The Rivalry
On this week's podcast Agents of Recovery discuss the fallout and circumstances behind the rivalry between Brigham Young University and the University of Utah suffering a low blow from a fan who in poor taste thought it would be appropriate to mock a challenging time in Max Hall‘s life. Listen as Max, Brock and Blu discuss the significance behind sportsmanlike contact on and off the field, in the world of covering, awareness and being able to focus the negative attention to something so positive. Listen as they take live phone calls from friends and family as they discuss the circumstances behind recovery and never allowing others to dictate a healthy sober future.
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Humble Accountability
This week Coach Blu interviews a special guest he worked with years ago. Portia Louder talks about her 4 and half years in federal prison, events that led to her addiction, and ultimately recovery, redemption, and healing. Portia shares how she found freedom in prison. This is a powerful example of taking accountability and seeing the good in the absolute worst. Check out her book this October, Living Louder. Here is an excerpt about her interaction with Blu Robinson.
Before I was sentenced, I met with a therapist and told him I wasn’t sure how to prepare for my sentencing.
“I’m facing up to seven years in prison, and I can’t imagine being away from my family for even one year. How could I ever prepare for seven?”
“What you are facing is difficult, but there are worse things,” my therapist said. “You could spend seven years in your addiction, being isolated and disconnected from your family and everyone around you. I think that would be worse. In prison, you would still be able to become an amazing person. That’s not the case with addiction.”
Become an amazing person. That stuck with me. I needed a goal, something to hold on to. I went back to the unit and wrote down a list of things I could do to become an amazing person. That night I laid in my bunk and begged God to give me the strength to move forward. “I need help.” I cried. “I want to make the best of this, but I can’t do it alone.”
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One on One with Coach Blu: Think Before You Act
On this week's episode of One on One with Coach Blu, we take a deep dive into the fallout over the Brigham Young University versus University of Utah rivalry football game played on September 11, 2021, and controversy over the Board of Director's Make-A-Wish, Mr. Todd Noall's decision to wear a shirt depicting former BYU quarterback and NFL great Max Hall's mug shot as a gesture of poor sportsmanship. Listen as Coach Blu describes the significance behind the issue of losing 255 people a day to addiction and overdose and the negative stigma this kind of action promotes. There are hundreds of stories of people who have lost their battle to addiction and to have the audacity to mock someone who has redeemed themselves and placed recovery as a primary driving force in their life is simply disrespectful. We have much work to do at the stigma of addiction and recovery is very real and the assistance of community support groups is very much in need.
The Running Punk: Jimmy Watkins
This week Coach Blu interviews artist and Sober Punk Runner Jimmy Watkins who reached the 800m final in the World Indoor Athletics Championships in 2006 and set a Welsh indoor record, only to leave the sport to join a band and explore some deeper roots. Listen as he then reaches a plateau to rediscover his relationship with running, the freedom within, and adding his own personal twist and love for music. Jimmy certainly embodies what erasing and replacing old habits with new habits means. He never settles for mediocrity and truly being able to use gifts and talents to spread the mutual love of music, running, and being alive with the world. Learn more about Running Punks.
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The Recovery Warrior
On this episode of the Addict II Athlete podcast Coach Blu interviews Jonah Grant Sr. Listen as Jonah discusses his life of recovery, his Native American Heritage, powerful life lessons he learned through adversity, and by turning the mess of addiction into the message of sobriety. He has been able to overcome tremendous barriers in life and become a warrior of recovery. Listen as they discuss the spiritual journey that recovery often takes and the metaphors of healing addiction through being open to the mentors, coaches, and friendships recovery has to offer. Coach Blu invites Jonah to take on the challenge of becoming an official Recovery Coach of the team Addict II Athlete to help those within his tribe and in the reservation community. We are lucky to have such an amazing individual on our team, listen and I'm sure he will agree.
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Addiction in the Elderly Population
Today's podcast we invite back Dr. B, Faried Banimahd, M.D., CEO of American Addiction Institute of Mind and Medicine. They discuss the growing issue of substance use and misuse among the elderly (adults over the age of 60), particularly of alcohol and prescription drugs, as one of the fastest-growing health problems in the United States. Addiction in the elderly population can be extremely serious. Listen as they discuss prescription drug abuse and the misuse of prescribed medicines where they may abuse their own medicine in a way that is not instructed by the doctor, or more than is necessary. Listen to tips for conversations and ways you can raise a concern without hindering or hurting the relationship.
The aging of the American population has created a sense of urgency among long term care (LTC) providers as they begin to realize the scale of substance use and misuse among older adults. Between 2006 and 2020 rates of diagnosed substance use disorder (SUDs) among older adults was projected to more than double from 2.8 million to 5.8 million. This trend is likely to continue over the next 20 years inline with continued growth in the number of Americans 60 years or older.
Follow Dr. B. on TikTok and YouTube.
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Addiction Recovery Resources
In this week's episode, the agents of recovery discussed substance use, rehab, addiction treatment, resources, and homelessness. This episode will discuss some of the details of what we are noticing that unfortunately is turning into a trend of blame-shifting and avoiding responsibility. We discussed ways you can utilize your own talents and willingness to help those in need.
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The Mayor of Running With Bart Yasso
This week Coach Blu revisits the mayor of running, by interviewing Bart Yasso. Listen as we release this interview originally airing on June 6, 2016. Having thought we lost this episode, it was wonderful to rediscover, and as you're here, still very reverent.
Bart Yasso joined Runner's World in 1987 to develop the groundbreaking Runner's World Race Sponsorship Program, creating a vehicle for Runner's World to work with over 7,000 races representing 4 million runners per year. Inducted into the Running USA Hall of Champions.
Yasso also invented the Yasso 800s, a marathon-training schedule used by thousands around the world. He is one of the few people to have completed races on all seven continents from the Antarctica marathon to the Mt. Kilimanjaro marathon. In 1987, Yasso won the U.S. National Biathlon Long Course Championship and won the Smoky Mountain Marathon in 1998. He has also completed the Ironman five times and the Badwater 146 through Death Valley. He has also cycled, unsupported and by himself, across the country twice.
Listen as both he and Josh Hansen visit with Bart about addiction, recovery, and how great minds think alike.
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Reaching A Boiling Point: Fight Like Max
Ever feel like you've reached a boiling point? Listen to this week's podcast and hear how the agents of recovery ensure that they don't fall back on old behaviors and processes that lead to dysfunctional thinking resulting in relapse. Listen as Max, Brock and Blu discuss how they all work around and through the stress that life sometimes hands them.
Thank you for listening and please review our podcast and give us some feedback, we'd love to hear from you.
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The Pornography Trap
Due to the sensitive topic, listener discretion is advised. In this week's episode Coach Blu will discuss pornography addiction in a new series that will help bring awareness, insight, and change to one of the most deadly addictions we've ever experienced, pornography addiction. Deadly in that it leaves the user dead inside experiencing guilt, shame, self-doubt, and extreme loneliness and is catastrophic to relationships. Listen as Coach Blu begins the process of teaching what pornography addiction does to the human brain, the emotional turmoil, and sets the platform for more dialogue and series introduction on overcoming pornography addiction.
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Recovery Playbook
This week Coach Blu offers up 2 Patreon Bouns episodes to you the listener to get a feel as to the content offered as a Patron Subscriber. This is two short sections of our recovery playbook.
Help support AIIA efforts to extend our reach to help more people and family systems heal from addiction.
If you like the content please feel free to jump on Patreon to choose a tier that works for you.
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We Got You: Listener Q & A
On this week's podcast the Agents of Recovery answer listener questions that have been submitted through social media. Listen as they discuss real issues concerning relationships, addiction recovery, and more.
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One On One With Coach Blu: Dependance or Abuse
Welcome to our weekly live show, One on One with Coach Blu. Coach Blu is a licensed mental health therapist and certified substance use, disorder counselor. Today's cohost Addict II Athlete's own Athletic Director Marisa Robinson. Marissa is a Certified Recreational Therapist. This is an open topic so by which you the listener can participate by submitting your own questions. We discuss topics of addiction, recovery, mental illness, health and wellness, and much more. Today we answer questions on family conflict and the difference between addiction abuse and dependence.
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Are We Aware Yet?
Today the Agents of Recovery discuss the shocking overdose statistics for 2020. Listen as they discuss the situation, issues, and problems with the current path that most people are on when it comes to receiving help, identifying core issues, and waiting for the government to step in and help. Brock also introduces the Take 10 initiative, and opportunities for you to step outside your comfort zone and help those in need.
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Staying Fit ODAAT with Miguel Reyes
Listen as Coach Blu interviews Miguel Reyes on his recovery path, finding redemption through the grace of having an incredible run-in with the law, family system issues, and then redemption. There are two parts of the story that begin with his own starting line, his history, the path he chose, and the significant issues he found himself in after promising he would never turn out like his father.
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