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b'On today\\u2019s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane speaks with author, teacher, and mother Mary Burns. During their discussion, Mary meditates on grief, loss, and her son\\u2019s struggle with addiction and mental illness.\\n\\nAs early as seven, Mary\\u2019s son, Eric, started to have something like screaming fits. She believed it was a phase that would pass. By the time he was a teenager, the screaming fits became \\u201crages.\\u201d Looking back, Mary could tell that there was something wrong. The rages were extremely out of character. Eventually, he would turn to hard drugs.\\n\\nAfter several months, Eric asked his mom for help. The hospitals, unfortunately, turned Eric away because they determined his addiction was not \\u201csevere enough.\\u201d In New Jersey, Mary was only able to get Eric checked into an outpatient facility with her insurance coverage. Her company only wanted to provide ten days treatment after his first relapse. Perhaps, she muses, Eric would have been able to work through his addiction and avoid relapse.\\xa0\\n\\nDuane posits that the mythology of addiction is hurting our ability to really help people that are struggling in less visible ways. Four days before he died, he spoke of his strength through Jesus Christ. But for some reason, he took drugs, overdosed, and died. It shows just how insidious drugs are, Mary says.\\n\\nMoving onto Eric\\u2019s death, Mary talks about how leaning on her faith really helped her to get through it. It gave her perspective to grasp onto the good times, despite all the loss. He struggled with life, but he let the good things reflect while absorbing the negative. She believes he\\u2019s in a better place, which is the little bit of hope she needs.\\n\\nSince our understanding of addiction has moved from a moral issue to a genuine pathology, our attitudes have changed. But treatment has not kept up. Mary and Duane talk toward the end about how the protocol for addiction treatment needs serious reform to actually help the people that need attentive care. They need an intensive support network to really get them through it. The old philosophies come from old paradigms that misunderstand addiction. You don\\u2019t need to hit rock bottom, Duane says. There\\u2019s no such thing\\u2014you can get help now.\\n\\n\\n\\n\\nSupport this podcast at \\u2014 https://redcircle.com/the-addicted-mind-podcast/donations\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices'