Today’s guest is one of the world’s leading experts on the neuroscience of addiction and recovery. Anna Lembke MD is Chief of the Stanford Medicine Dual Diagnosis clinic and Professor and Medical Director of Addiction Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Lembke has testified before Congress and consulted with governors and senators from Kentucky to Missouri to Nevada. You may also recognize her from her appearance on the hit Netflix movie “The Social Dilemma.” Aside from this, Anna has also written two books: “Drug Dealer MD” and her latest book, The New York Times bestseller “Dopamine Nation.”

Our conversation covers an array of important topics to help highlight the REAL connection between science, addiction, and recovery. Anna explains the neuroscience of addiction and how it affects the brain and decision-making. We get into how to prevent addiction, what to do if you are addicted and the different recovery options. Our convo gets into the subject of relapse including why so many fall back into their addictive behaviors even after sustained abstinence. We chat about how to thrive in early recovery and how to prevent relapse. We also cover how technological advances have impacted the current epidemic and discuss hidden addictions that you may be unaware of. Anna shares how she helps her patients with anxiety and depression and why using drugs to treat such things can actually backfire. Our discussion gets into current hot topics like the opioid epidemic, cannabis use and advice for parents when they have a loved one who’s struggling.

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Anna Lembke, MD on The REAL Connection Between Science, Addiction & Recovery