In this first installment of my ongoing Sedated series, I open up the early draft of my fourth book and take listeners into the first chapter, "The First Dose." This episode explores a difficult truth: many people are not broken in the way they think they are. More often, they have learned to feel less so well, and for so long, that numbness now passes as maturity, regulation, and healing.

This is not a conversation about dramatic collapse. It is about the quieter kind of disappearance, the kind that happens while you are still functioning, still showing up, still being praised for how calm, dependable, and manageable you have become. We unpack what happens when coping stops being a bridge and becomes a permanent way of living.

If you have ever wondered whether your calm is actually peace, or whether you have just become highly skilled at not feeling too much, this episode is for you.