Tales From the Psych Ward with Amy Dresner - Epilepsy, Grief, Recovery & Staying Alive When Sobriety Still Sucks

Tales From the Psych Ward with Amy Dresner - Epilepsy, Grief, Recovery & Staying Alive When Sobriety Still Sucks

Dopey: On the Dark Comedy of Drug Addiction

Timestamp Notes 00:00 – Good Morning Dopey / Dopey Wednesday intro song. 01:14 – Dave opens the show and announces the unofficial Dopey theme song challenge. 02:20 – Film Festival is two days away; Dave encourages people to come if they still can. 02:55 – Father’s Day rant: dads texting other dads “Happy Father’s Day.” 04:20 – Dave calls his father Alan live for Father’s Day. 05:15 – Alan weighs in on masculinity, texting, and modern fatherhood. 08:30 – Dave and Alan discuss the Knicks winning the championship. 10:25 – “Post-acute Knicks withdrawal” and Dave compares fans rewatching clips to “licking the bag.” 12:35 – Knicks parade talk, Mamdani speech, Dolan, and school bus chaos conspiracy jokes. 16:10 – Knicks roster talk: Robinson, Diowara, Shamet, Clarkson, second apron. 17:45 – Alan talks about coming to the Dopey Film Festival and bringing a crew. 19:25 – Dave explains Film Festival schedule: food, Mountainside intro, films, comedians, panel, Q&A. 20:00 – Patreon comments from Todd’s sister Allie episode. 20:35 – Listener asks why Dave debated putting out the Allie episode. 21:00 – Comments about Todd, Linda, Maggie the pit bull, and dreams about Todd. 22:20 – Spotify comments about Todd’s family, the apartment, and grieving. 23:10 – Dave describes Todd’s tiny Upper East Side studio, Murphy bed, bong hits, 720, and toaster oven food. 24:35 – Dopey socks explanation: send a voicemail/email or join $15 Patreon. 25:00 – Dave introduces the live YouTube/Workit Health event with Amy Dresner. Amy Dresner / Workit Health Interview 25:45 – Max from Workit Health introduces the event and Workit’s telehealth addiction care. 27:05 – Max introduces Dave, Dopey, Amy Dresner, My Fair Junkie, and recovery storytelling. 29:30 – Dave corrects the download number: 23 million, not 10 million. 30:15 – Dave and Amy remember her first Dopey appearance with Chris. 31:30 – Todd came over during Amy’s first interview; later nodded out after using heroin. 33:00 – Amy talks about her next book proposal: long-term recovery when life still falls apart. 34:35 – Amy describes losing her father, mother, and cat, epilepsy returning, losing work/housing, and staying sober. 35:35 – Amy talks suicidal thoughts, medication changes, and checking herself into the psych ward. 37:15 – Amy’s psych ward intake: false promises of good food, coffee, and comfort. 38:15 – Amy gets a crush on a young nurse and meets seriously mentally ill patients. 39:50 – Amy as “teacher’s pet” in psych ward groups. 40:40 – Entering the psych ward with ten years sober. 41:30 – Amy takes notes because the whole thing is material. 42:25 – Rexulti, antipsychotics, medication issues, and sleeping all day. 43:30 – Amy admits she was the oldest and most out-of-control person there. 44:20 – Amy talks grief, rage, Colonel Puff, her mother, and losing too much at once. 45:25 – Amy explains the vagus nerve stimulator for epilepsy. 46:20 – Battery in the chest, choking fetish joke, and doctors not knowing what to do with her. 47:15 – Amy learns her epilepsy may not have been self-inflicted by drug use. 48:20 – Meth, coke, seizures, and why Amy shot coke but not meth. 49:05 – Classic Amy story: wearing a bike helmet while shooting coke for harm reduction. 50:45 – Dave and Amy discuss harm reduction, 12-step, MAT, and staying alive. 53:10 – Amy says addiction is not a moral issue and harm reduction keeps people alive. 54:35 – Dave talks about methadone, projection, and assuming everyone on MAT was also using. 56:20 – Amy’s UCLA epilepsy unit stay: tied to the bed, electrodes, seizure monitoring. 58:45 – Amy has multiple grand mal seizures in the hospital. 01:00:30 – Doctors restart her VNS, try Depakote, and Amy pukes all night. 01:02:00 – Isolation in Lake Hollywood, inability to drive, social anxiety, and trying to write the book. 01:03:25 – Amy’s agent pushes for a stronger proposal and more vivid writing. 01:04:35 – Writing as survival: “If you can make it into a story, you can live through it.” 01:05:35 – Amy says she blew her best stories in My Fair Junkie. 01:06:20 – Dave and Amy talk about the importance of a second book about sobriety when life stays hard. 01:07:15 – Depression, dual diagnosis, epilepsy medication, and Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs. 01:09:30 – Amy has a seizure while running a meeting and gets taken off the schedule. 01:10:25 – Dopeywood, epilepsy fear, and Amy winning the Stash Word contest. 01:11:00 – Dave asks how Amy gets through daily life with isolation and illness. 01:13:00 – Amy talks writing, money, body dysmorphia, and doing video work. 01:14:30 – Live chat begins; Dopey Nation and Workit Health audience join in. 01:15:30 – Question: do young people think addiction is normal? 01:16:30 – Amy talks isolation, suicidal thinking, and needing people to come over. 01:18:30 – Amy says suicidal thoughts pass and recommends therapy, medication, sleep, and support. 01:20:20 – Question about early recovery, Suboxone, drinking, and a breakup. 01:21:00 – Dave recommends meetings, connection, prayer, hobbies, walks, and getting out of your head. 01:22:00 – Question about boundaries; Amy jokes she has none. 01:23:20 – Question: what if you feel like no one can connect with you? 01:24:00 – Dave says there is definitely some weirdo out there who will connect with you. 01:25:00 – Meetings, Dopey Zoom, Workit meetings, and trying something instead of nothing. 01:26:00 – Amy explains action changing feelings and building new neural pathways. 01:26:50 – Question: how do you forgive yourself after decades of addiction? 01:27:15 – Amy talks felony domestic violence, shame, forgiving herself, and having her own back. 01:30:00 – Dave talks changing the channel in your brain through action, hobbies, TV, and recovery. 01:31:30 – Dave invites people onto the Knicks bandwagon as a form of community and joy. 01:32:30 – Question about writing: Amy recommends coaching, outlining, proposals, agents, and writing before editing. 01:35:00 – Audience member says they are homeless and desperate for help. 01:35:30 – Amy and Dave urge them to keep asking for help, go to meetings, use libraries, and tell people the truth. 01:39:20 – Question about humor in recovery and whether laughing glamorizes addiction. 01:40:00 – Dave says humor is his survival mode and release valve. 01:41:30 – Amy says there is a line between dark humor and glamorizing addiction. 01:43:00 – Amy talks not comparing herself to others and staying in the present. 01:44:45 – Max closes the live event and calls Dave and Amy “universal recovery parents.” 01:45:30 – Amy reflects on hiding out, wanting to be honest again, and coming back. 01:46:30 – Roxanne Colelo / Dopey stoner legend shoutout. 01:47:30 – Amy plugs My Fair Junkie and talks about money, disability, and trying to survive. 01:49:20 – Amy shows Bucky the rescue cat. 01:50:00 – Dave and Amy thank Workit Health and promote the Film Festival. 01:52:50 – Dave wraps the episode, plugs Patreon, treatment help, Safe Spot, CustomStickers.com, and signs off.