A POWERFUL Story of Overcoming Addiction, PTSD, & Bi-Polar Disorder | Cory Richards x Rich Roll

Healing Journeys

Cory Richards shares his profound journey of healing and self-discovery, emphasizing the importance of honesty and vulnerability. He reflects on how his book serves as a mental health treatise, interwoven with personal experiences and insights from various studies and practitioners 1. Rich Roll highlights the book's unique narrative style, likening it to a collage of portraits that evoke a sense of memory without linear storytelling 2.

It's also about identity and delusion and denial and death and summits and high highs and low lows and adventure and confusion and clarity. All these stories told with profound honesty and vulnerability, which gives the reader us permission to talk about deeper shit, to grapple with what lurks in the dark as you show us a path to hope and growth and light and love and healing and wholeness.

--- Rich Roll

Richards expresses gratitude for the opportunity to share his story, acknowledging the challenges of embracing gratitude and the transformative power it holds 2.

   

Therapeutic Practices

Richards discusses his spiritual awakening and the therapeutic practices that have shaped his mental health journey. He recalls a pivotal moment when he found belonging in a Christian community, which sparked his curiosity about the outdoors and marked the beginning of his healing process 3. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder at a young age, he navigated various medications and their effects on his life, highlighting the complexities of mental health treatment.

Well, we went through Paxil, you know, Zoloft, all of the SSRIs that were out at the time. And, you know, they all had some effect. But basically, we landed on Depakote, valproic acid and bupropion or Wellbutrin. And I stayed on those, really, without monitoring for 26 years.

--- Cory Richards

Richards emphasizes the importance of authenticity in his writing, aiming to make readers feel seen and understood, and fostering a deeper connection with mental health narratives 4.