Loren represents a part of a lot of us that is hard to face. It's easy to judge him and ignore how much we are like him. Once you come out the other end, you can pretend you never made the choices you made. I'm confident that no one meant any malice. I'm glad you faced those battles and came out ahead. Gives hope for Loren.
What can I say, the best part of me lies in my subconscious. Just kidding. I was the director for a youth outreach program for 10 years. I may have picked up a nugget or two along the way, though most of the time you'd never know it lol