(Ep. 52) If you have never had anyone be with you in the problem, you will medicate with the solution.

What if everything you reach for to feel better — even the "good" things — is really you trying not to be alone in your pain?In this episode of Triggered & True, Laura Duncan and co-host Brian Freise build an entire conversation around a single line from Brian's old notes: "If you have never had anyone be with you in the problem, you will medicate with the solution." It's a quietly profound idea, and unpacking it reframes how you see every coping habit you have.Laura widens the definition of "medication" far beyond the obvious. Yes, it can be substances — but it's just as often spirituality (in fact, God telling her to "stop medicating with Me" is part of how the whole method began), food, exercise, education, or knowledge. Understanding your pain, she explains, is not the same as healing it; it just gives a false, temporary comfort. She and Brian are careful and non-shaming — medication isn't "wrong," and prescribed medication can be a real bridge to healing, not something to yank away — but they show why it can't be the end of the road. Most movingly, they explain what "being with" someone actually does: a caregiver lends a hurting child their calm and their very brain, because a child's mind believes the pain will last forever. The hopeful takeaway: there's more to your story, and you are not defined by whatever you've used to cope.In this episode: 🔹 "Medicate with the solution" — why we reach for relief when no one was with us in the pain 🔹 Medication is bigger than substances: spirituality, food, education, and knowledge count too 🔹 Why understanding your pain isn't the same as healing it 🔹 "Lending a brain": what a caregiver's presence actually gives a hurting child 🔹 Why we often medicate from our child brain — and why that explains out-of-character choices📩 Get your free Weekly Dose of Compassion — two short notes in your inbox every week. One to speak over yourself. One from Laura: https://www.lauraduncan.com/pl/2148814868🔗 Learn more: https://triggeredandtrue.com https://lauraduncan.com