196: A Real-Time Glimpse of Alcoholism, Depression, and Loss During a Search for More Sunrises with Amy Law and Jeff Deck

Recovery from addiction doesn’t just stop there. People in recovery could still be struggling with depression. While addiction and depression are somewhat correlated, both of them should still be addressed individually.

In this episode, Duane speaks with Amy Law and Jeff Deck, authors of the book, “We Got This, Kids: A real-time and raw glimpse of alcoholism, depression, and loss during a search for more sunrises.” Amy shares the story of her brother, Andy, who committed suicide after a struggle with alcoholism and depression.

At that time, Andy was writing his memoirs but never got to finish them. Amy's courage to share Andy's story and to let people into that is truly inspiring. In the book, Amy also shares her perspective of taking Andy’s memoirs and how she collaborated with Jeff Deck to bring their beautiful message to completion and share it with the world.

If you're struggling or contemplating suicide, please reach out for help call 988 or 1-800-273-8255 if you're in the United States. If you're outside of the United States, search for a suicide hotline, reach out for help, and get the support that you need.

In this episode, you will hear:

• Andy’s addiction story
• Why Amy decided to share Andy’s story
• Why Jeff decided to collaborate in writing the book
• The reason behind the title of the book
• Normalizing the topic of addiction and mental illness

Key Quotes:

[11:33] - " Depression lies... It lied to my brother. And as a result, it robbed him of the rest of his life." - Amy Law

[19:08] - "Andy's story was so immediate and raw that I felt like the value that I could provide to other people suffering in similar situations was potentially immense." - Jeff Deck

[25:51] - "Our intention is to help other families and everybody who's suffering from addiction and mental illness… It's time to normalize some of these conversations. It's overdue." - Amy Law

[29:37] - "The small things can be so helpful. Even if it's just helping with loneliness and feeling you're alone in mental illness or depression or alcoholism. You're not." - Amy Law

[30:49] - "A temporary decision leads to irreversible consequences. We hope people see that in this book and recognize if they are having a really dark moment, it's a temporary thing.” - Jeff Deck

[31:44] - "Hang on. Seek out the help. No matter how small you think that help is, it probably has the potential to move mountains. Make that call." - Amy Law

[32:07] - "To families, if you have even the slightest, barely audible alarm going off in your mind, pay attention to it. Pay very close attention to that. If it's present, act on it." - Amy Law

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If you really enjoyed this episode, we’ve created a PDF that has all of the key information for you from the episode. Just go to the episode page at www.theaddictedmind.com to download it.

Supporting Resources:

NovusMindfulLife.com

“We Got This, Kids: A real-time and raw glimpse of alcoholism, depression, and loss during a search for more sunrises”

https://www.amazon.com/Got-This-Kids-alcoholism-depression/dp/B09TDSCCB5

Episode Credits

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