Jeff Hays is an award-winning filmmaker, author, and television producer with a career spanning over three decades. He gained national attention with his documentary Fahrenhype 9/11, a response to Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. Jeff has produced numerous documentaries and television series, including On Native Soil and Doctored. In 2017, he co-founded Revealed Films with Dr. Patrick Gentempo, producing multi-part series covering health, wealth, politics, and more. Jeff is also an accomplished author, with two books set for release in 2023 and 2024. He lives in Utah with his wife and has 11 children and many grandchildren.

This episode is about Jeff's connection to addiction. He's going to share his experience as a parent with a son struggling with addiction. We talk about many interesting things, from life with 11 kids to how Jeff doesn't enable his addicted son. Jeff talks about some of his work, including films and his upcoming books. We talk about how the recipe for happiness and overcoming depression and addiction has a lot to do with walking, nature, diet, feeling good, and connection. Jeff shares his views on love along with so many inspiring stories and examples. This is a great episode for anyone who wants to learn more about love, life, and dealing with addiction and trauma. 

• [04:42] With 11 kids and 20 grandkids, Jeff's assistant uses a spreadsheet for Christmas shopping and an assembly line for birthdays.

• [06:19] Having chaos with children everywhere was one of the happiest times of Jeff's life.

• [07:13] Investing in your children is investing in your own future happiness.

• [07:45] Jeff thought Fahrenheit 9/11 was a flawed documentary. The movie did $100 million at the box office. 

• [09:30] Fahrenhype 9/11 dismantled Michael Moore's film. Jeff sold the film to Overstock and became a millionaire in one day.

• [09:54] He produced On Native Soil the following year. Building his own distribution network is what has allowed Jeff to stay in the film business.

• [10:52] The book, Chasing the Scream inspired The Fix on Roku. It argues the case that everything we know about addiction is wrong.

• [12:41] Jeff's son Perry has been a heroin addict for over a decade.

• [13:27] The book convinced Jeff just to project love as opposed to tough love on his addicted son.

• [14:28] Being an addict is a sickness just like cancer.

• [15:34] The expectation that someone can stop being an addict in 28 days is unrealistic. Recovery can take two or three years.

• [16:26] Perry was a tennis player who experienced an injury and started taking opioids. 

• [20:32] Perry was arrested and had to be drug tested daily for a year. After that year, he went right back to using again.

• [21:23] Perry is currently in rehab and has been cleaned since December. 

• [22:01] He has to live life differently and learn how to handle situations differently.

• [23:48] Hiking, exercise, being out in nature, and connection with friends are the ingredients of a happy life whether you're overcoming depression or addiction.

• [33:18] A medical guided MDMA procedure helped Jeff recover from the death of his mother when he was a child. 

• [36:26] Jeff hopes Perry can keep himself functional until he can resolve his issues. 

• [39:06] We're all addicted in one form or another. It takes about 2 years to break a sugar addiction. Jeff quit smoking when he was 30.

• [40:55] Jeff was never able to fully love until he resolved his childhood issues. He discovered that love needs no protection.

• [41:59] The relentlessness of God's love is like sunshine. The sun is always there just like God's love. Jeff aspires to be that pure love for his children.

• [44:20] People can benefit greatly from using psychedelics to resolve childhood trauma.

• [46:29] Jeff talks about psychedelics and the effect on addiction. People can create new neural pathways quickly.

• [51:14] He did a cold plunge everyday in the month of March. Jeff was developing discipline. He keeps commitments to himself.

• [53:37] The thing that Jeff is most proud of is that Perry doesn't lie to him, and that's because he doesn't require him to lie to him.

• [55:30] Jeff doesn't enable. He also has boundaries. Dependency breeds contempt. 

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Camelback Recovery

• I Love Being Sober YouTube

• Jeff Hays Films

• Chasing the Scream: The Inspiration for the Feature Film "The United States vs. Billie Holiday" (The Opposite of Addiction is Connection)

• The Fix

• The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness

• Dr. Ned Hallowell

• Joe Polish Genius Recovery

• PACEs Science 101 (FAQs) — Positive and Adverse Childhood Experiences

• Psychedelics Revealed