#77 A Park Bench Saved Him - Doyal Smith, Dual Diagnostics Anonymous

Doyal Smith is the Executive Director of Dual Diagnosis Anonymous. Which means you are more than alcohol dependent or drug dependent, you're that plus another dependent. Really, really dependent. Most of the members start out with a mental health issue, then the alcohol or drugs become a natural second outlet for the pain. A Portland, Oregon native, Doyal's father was in prison, while his alcoholic step father beat his sister. A perfect situation for Doyal to end up being in a paddy wagon at age nine. By age 25 he faced charges of DUI, carjacking and robbery. But prison was his savior, that's where he had treatment programs and realized his demons were his mental health, and conquering those demons became his goal. He decided that serving humanity was his reason for being alive and while sitting on a bench in a park, contemplating suicide, Doyal made the decision. He visits that same bench at the same time of night on that anniversary, and now has other people who join him. Felony Inc Podcast with your host Mark Gailey We record the Felony Inc Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music "Free" written and recorded by Dave Dahl, all rights reserved, motherfuckers This weeks podcast brought to you in part by soap-on-a-rope, when you don't want to drop stuff Felony Inc Podcast supports City Central Concern at centralcityconcern.org 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes Listen to the Felony Inc Podcast live on-air every Friday at 10:00am pacific time on Startup Radio Network at startupradionetwork.com