EP 3:43 Three Types of Chemsex User Profiles with Dr. Lockwood

Send us Fan Mail Supplemental Study Guide: https://www.recoveryalchemy.org/newsletters/blog/posts/profiles In this returning-guest episode of The AfterMeth Podcast, Dallas Bragg welcomes back Dr. Patrick Lockwood for a wide-ranging conversation that opens with an unscripted reflection on connection itself. The two men explore how easy it is—especially for busy professionals and entrepreneurs—to let productivity crowd out relationships, and how a simple weekly text can chip away at isolation. Dallas is candid about his own instinct to distrust kindness and question people's motives, while Patrick shares the opposite reflex of gratitude, and together they land on the familiar recovery truth that the opposite of addiction is connection. It's a warm, meandering start that sets an emotionally honest tone before the episode turns to its central idea. From there, Patrick unpacks a framework he developed with a colleague, Mel, for understanding the different core motivations behind chemsex: numbers, who use drugs and sex to numb intolerable psychological pain and shame; connectors, who chase euphoria and a sense of belonging; and dissociators, who use to escape the self entirely, often in the wake of severe trauma. He draws a careful distinction between numbing—dulling a pain one is still in contact with—and dissociating, a total flight from the self, and both men stress that these categories are meant to help people feel seen rather than to pathologize or pigeonhole. They discuss how someone can shift between types over time (a connector becoming a dissociator after trauma, or after an HIV diagnosis) and why identifying one's underlying motivation can point toward the right support, including trauma therapy when the injury runs deep. Dallas closes by floating the idea of building case studies so listeners can recognize themselves in someone else's story, and reminds listeners of the supplemental study guide accompanying every episode. The AfterMeth: Join our Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theaftermeth/ Dallas Bragg Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: https://www.drdallasbragg.com/newsletters/blog Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drdallasbragg Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drdallasbragg/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drdallasbragg YouTube: The Aftermeth Podcast X: https://twitter.com/Drdallasbragg Free online course to End the Relapse Cycle: https://www.drdallasbragg.com/offers/e7c2Eo22/checkout Meth-Free Blueprint EBOOK: https://www.drdallasbragg.com/offers/o8qFhK5i/checkout