In this episode of *This Tree AND Me*, Cory J Riggs opens the door to one of the most profound and vulnerable stories of his life — the long, winding path of addiction, and all of the faces it wore before he ever touched a substance.

Addiction is never just drugs or alcohol.

Sometimes it looks like food.
Sometimes anger.
Sometimes approval.
Sometimes escaping into work or relationships.
Sometimes it’s running toward pleasure.
Sometimes it’s running from pain.
And sometimes… it’s the silence we hide inside when we don’t know where else to put our hurt.

In this episode, Cory traces addiction through every stage of his life, beginning long before anyone recognized it — and long before he understood what was happening internally.

He revisits childhood moments that shaped him, t ...