Best Of Belfast: Northern Ireland's #1 Interview Podcast

Today’s episode features a conversation about the state of addiction in Northern Ireland with Dr Anne Campbell and Professor Kathryn Higgins from Queen’s University Belfast who have both dedicated their professional careers to researching and implementing solutions around this issue.    In today’s episode we talk about:

• What personally got each them into the field of addiction
• Key insights from longitudinal studies and individual stories
• Which substances are causing the greatest harm locally
• Unique strengths and weaknesses NI faces with addiction
• The impact of COVID on the sector
• Some of the incredible research they have been involved in over the years
• And first steps you and I can take to get help or help others 

  Check it out!   https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/state-of-addiction-northern-ireland

Floatation and trauma expert Vivian McKinnon set up Hydro-ease: Northern Irelands only dedicated floatation centre in September 2015.    She established the business in response to her own traumatic experiences and a passion for helping people move away from pain and towards a life of fulfilment.   Qualified and experienced in many therapeutic approaches and currently studying with Dr Gabor Mate, Vivian has crafted her own exclusive and eclectic approach to recovery, RAFT (Reconnection and Floatation Therapy) to assist others by guiding and inspiring them to use the skills and tools in the life they have to create the life they desire.   Vivian’s experience as a unique and dynamic therapist spans over three decades. It’s her core belief ‘there is magic within us all’.   Through her own process of post-traumatic growth, Vivian is thriving and living out her mission of ‘healing the world, one float at a time.’   In this episode we talk about:

• Her involvement in cloning 'Dolly The Sheep'
• Childhood trauma
• Addiction
• How she discovered floating (sensory deprivation tanks)
• And why she’s dedicated this season of her life to setting up Ireland’s first Float Tank Centre

  Check it out.    https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/vivian-mckinnon-hydro-ease

Theo Fleury is a former NHL All-Star, Stanley Cup winner and Olympic Gold Medalist. He’s also the two-time best-selling author of Playing with Fire and Conversations With a Rattlesnake.   While Theo enjoys his hockey memories and accolades, he feels his true life’s purpose is what he does today: creating healing through conversation, particularly in the areas of addiction, sexual abuse and childhood trauma.    In this episode we talk about:

• Why he moved to Belfast to play for The Giants
• How his time in Northern Ireland turned his life around
• His journey to sobriety
• And the daily practices that helped him overcome trauma, depression and addiction. 

  Check it out.   https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/theo-fleury-all-star-hockey-player

Willy G is a world-famous tattoo artist from Whitehead, Northern Ireland. He’s also a husband, proud father of three, painter and former cocaine addict.   In today’s episode we talk about:

• The intimacy involved in tattooing 
• How Willy got into art
• Working towards dreams/goals
• Managing success at a young age
• The years that led him to rock bottom
• And what got him sober

  Check it out.   https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/willy-g-tattoo-artist

Today’s very special episode features an in-depth conversation with an individual in his 70s who has been sober for 40+ years through the Alcoholics Anonymous, 12-Step Program.    In this episode, “Alan” shares:

• Why anonymity is a key pillar of AA
• The origins of this organisation that has helped millions of people get sober
• Why alcoholics are “allergic to alcohol”
• The rock-bottom moment that led to him seeking help
• What AA meetings actually look like
• And most importantly, why the 12-step program actually works.

  This is a very relaxed conversation with plenty of laughs along the way, making it the perfect way to ‘dip your toe in the water’ and find out more about AA.    Check it out.     //   https://www.alcoholicsanonymous.ie/   028 9035 1222   https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/alcoholics-anonymous-belfast   //

Kicking off our addiction series is Dr. Anna Lembke: a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University and one of the world's leading experts on dopamine. 

 

Over the last few years, Anna has appeared in Netflix documentaries like The Social Dilemma and podcasts like The Rich Roll Podcast, The Huberman Lab and The Joe Rogan Experience.

 

Her new book, Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence was an instant New York Times bestseller and explores how to moderate compulsive overconsumption in a dopamine-overloaded world.

 

In this conversation we cover:

- What dopamine actually is

- How it governs our lives

- Why the pursuit of pleasure is actually the pursuit of pain

- How a dopamine fast can help reset our brains

- And practical tools for overcoming addiction

 

This conversation is probably the most important episode I've shared in my podcasting journey so far (and is probably the one where you will hear me fangirling the most!)

 

Anna's work has made a profound impact on my life in recent months and I'm both incredibly honoured and excited to share some of it with you today.

 

— Matt 

 

https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/anna-lembke-dopamine-nation

Hopping on to give a head-up about probably the most important thing we will ever share on this podcast.

 

Over the next six weeks, we're diving deep into the topic of addiction, including some incredible stories from recovered addicts and the research from some of the world's leading experts on the topic.

 

Really hope you enjoy it and find it beneficial for you and the people you care about.

 

– Matt

Pilot episode for our new podcast! 

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Over the last two years, there’s been a lot of discussion about the short and long-term side-effects of COVID-19.

But something I’d never heard anyone talk about was the proven link between depression and the virus itself… That was until I got COVID myself and hopped on the phone with my dear friend Steve Ilardi (who just so happens to be a Clinical Researcher and one of the world’s leading experts on depression).

The rest, as they say, is history.

In today’s first-ever, special pilot, episode myself and Steve catch up to chat about:

• Why the risk of depression doubles after a COVID infection

• How COVID affects the brain (including why we lose our sense of taste/smell)

• And what we can do to protect ourselves and the people we love from this rarely talked about side-effect.

Thanks so much for being here and we really hope you enjoy!

//

Subscribe to the new show here:

https://mentalhealth.fm/episodes/link-between-covid-and-depression

This week, the Dunk Brothers headed to Hydro-Ease (the first float centre on the Island of Ireland) in East Belfast for Scott's 7th time esoteric float and Matt's 1st ever.

In our pre-and-post-float chat we talk about:

• Why would someone even want to do this?
• Expectations versus reality of the float tank experience
• Our reactions to our time in the tank
• "Deep time" and intergenerational mindfulness
• The link between capitalism/communism and crops
• Losing connection with the village/tribe in modern life
• The Label-Free Diet (TM pending)
• And how the things that hold you back in your journey are often the whole point of the journey in the first place.

Check it out.

//

https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/sensory-deprivation-tank

 

Dr Yassin Brunger is a Lecturer in Human Rights Law and Co-Director of the Gender Justice and Society Research Network at Queen’s University Belfast.    Originally from the Gambian, Yassin spent 20 years living in the Middle East and is rooted in transnational understandings of justice and human rights. As a long-term feminist and scholar-activist, her academic work remains informed by the lived experiences of post-conflict, justice and peace of marginalised communities in the ‘Global South’ — amplifying struggles for justice within and beyond legal frameworks and academia.    Closer to home, Yassin is a dedicated champion of gender and racial justice in Northern Ireland. She has received national recognition for her contribution to the first 'Black History Month campaign' in Northern Ireland and formerly served as one of the inaugural Co-Chairs of IRise, the University's Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic and International Staff Network.   In this episode we talk about:

• Growing up in the Middle-East
• Her experiences in white middle-class England
• What justice actually is
• What racism in NI looks like
• And most importantly what we can do about it

  Please note: This episode also contains reference to gender and racial-based violence. If you are affected by anything discussed in this conversation we have signposted a few phone numbers and links below for you to avail of.   The Rowan Sexual Assault Referral Centre 0800 389 4424 Freephone 24/7 http://therowan.net/   Women's Aid NI: https://www.womensaidni.org/get-help/   Northern Ireland Council for Racial Equality https://nicre.org/services/   Lifeline 0808 808 8000   //   https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/yassin-brunger