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Speaker 1: Hello everybody, Welcome back to the show. Welcome back to

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Speaker 1: the podcast, new listeners, old listeners. Wherever you are in

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Speaker 1: the world, it is so great to have you here

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Speaker 1: back for another episode as we, of course break down

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Speaker 1: the psychology of our twenties. I just want to say

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Speaker 1: a huge, big fool thank you to all of the

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Speaker 1: love and support that you guys have shown my new podcast,

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Speaker 1: Mantra so far. In case you haven't heard, I launched

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Speaker 1: a new show. You know, I just wanted to spend

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Speaker 1: even more hours behind a microphone. One podcast wasn't enough.

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Speaker 1: But Martra is basically a weekly podcast that I put

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Speaker 1: out every single Monday that gives you a phrase and

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Speaker 1: affirmation for your week to help you guide your week,

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Speaker 1: whether it is I release the need for external validation,

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Speaker 1: I cultivate peace within I create my own reality. We

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Speaker 1: go into what each mantra means at the start of

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Speaker 1: every week to kind of give you some guidance and

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Speaker 1: some inspiration as you start things off and as you

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Speaker 1: get into it whatever it is you are going through.

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Speaker 1: So the first episode was released yesterday on the thirteenth

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Speaker 1: of January, and the love that you guys have poured

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Speaker 1: into that show already left me kind of speechless. So

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Speaker 1: thank you so much for those who have already listened,

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Speaker 1: already rated the show, who are following along on Instagram,

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Speaker 1: every single little two second act, whether you're rating it,

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Speaker 1: whether you're just playing the first you know, thirty seconds,

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Speaker 1: whether you honestly just hit follow, means the world. So

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Speaker 1: I really really appreciate it. But with that aside, just

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Speaker 1: to say a big thank you, I want to talk

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Speaker 1: about today's topic, because today we are talking about alcohol,

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Speaker 1: specifically what alcohol does to our brains, how it impacts

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Speaker 1: us emotionally and psychologically, and also this shift we're kind

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Speaker 1: of seeing in society today towards sobriety, especially in our

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Speaker 1: generation of twenty somethings. A lot of us are starting

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Speaker 1: to question whether our current drinking habits, both individually and

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Speaker 1: as a culture, are really what's best. And this has

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Speaker 1: been a big topic of conversation in my life at

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Speaker 1: the moment. It's been coming up everywhere I look because

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Speaker 1: I'm doing dry January, and you know what, I just

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Speaker 1: kind of said it as a personal challenge, and if

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Speaker 1: I'm being completely honest with you all, I did not

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Speaker 1: expect it to be as hard as it was. It

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Speaker 1: honestly shocked me a bit because I'm not someone who's

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Speaker 1: ever had a problem with alcohol. I could always stop

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Speaker 1: drinking when I wanted, But suddenly these thirty days have

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Speaker 1: been hard, and it's really got me thinking about, well,

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Speaker 1: the psychology of alcohol and the role that it plays

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Speaker 1: during this decade of life. I think it's been so

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Speaker 1: difficult because every social event or thing that's happening, every

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Speaker 1: interaction or opportunity to out with my friends kind of

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Speaker 1: has alcohol at the center. Maybe not every single event,

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Speaker 1: but probably every second one, whether it's going to the pub,

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Speaker 1: going out for drinks, going to a party, a birthday

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Speaker 1: of celebration, dinner, alcohol is very much at the center.

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Speaker 1: And honestly, as someone who actually does like the taste

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Speaker 1: of wine and who will have a few glasses of

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Speaker 1: wine or a beer, I never really noticed how dependent

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Speaker 1: those situations felt on drinking until I put myself in

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Speaker 1: a position where I couldn't participate in kind of the

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Speaker 1: group activity. What I have noticed has been really interesting

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Speaker 1: as well, both health wise, mental health wise, brain wise,

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Speaker 1: but also social wise. So I want to not only

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Speaker 1: discuss the role of alcohol on our brains and our bodies,

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Speaker 1: because I think that's just something we should all understand.

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Speaker 1: But also what happens when we quit alcohol, what changes

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Speaker 1: you're likely to notice, how to deal with things like

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Speaker 1: hangs out, and the rise of sober curiosity amongst us.

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Speaker 1: Also some of the things I've learned going out sober

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Speaker 1: that might surprise you. I also want to go kind

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Speaker 1: of more in depth into the psychology of dependence, substance abuse,

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Speaker 1: why we do feel like alcohol is so conditioned into

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Speaker 1: how we socialize, and so much more. I think this

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Speaker 1: episode is really important and it's essential listening if you're

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Speaker 1: in your twenties and beyond, because how often do we

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Speaker 1: really pause and consider how big of a role this

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Speaker 1: substance plays in our lives. You know, until recently, I

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Speaker 1: hadn't really done that thinking. So this is also such

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Speaker 1: a really richly and deeply researched area.

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Speaker 2: I do.

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Speaker 1: You just want to say, the evidence and the science

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Speaker 1: is constantly evolving when it comes to alcohol, Like a

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Speaker 1: paper literally came out yesterday that I didn't get a

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Speaker 1: chance to put into this episode, So as of right now,

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Speaker 1: hopefully it is accurate, But maybe in a couple of

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Speaker 1: years the research will change again and I'll have to

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Speaker 1: revisit this topic, but for right now, this is what

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Speaker 1: we know about the psychology of alcohol, specifically in our twenties.

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Speaker 1: So let's get into it. Let's get some basics down

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Speaker 1: pat first. How is alcohol process by the body? Why

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Speaker 1: does it make us feel the way it does good

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Speaker 1: and bad? What is the impact on the brain. Three

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Speaker 1: things we really need to know. So first thing to

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Speaker 1: know when you have a glass of wine, when you

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Speaker 1: have a little apparol, sprits, your martini, your shots of vodka,

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Speaker 1: whatever it is, insert drink of choice here. The key

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Speaker 1: chemical or substance that we are interested in that makes

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Speaker 1: alcohol alcohol is ethanol. This is what is going to

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Speaker 1: make you feel tipsy or drunk. And ethanol is really

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Speaker 1: just a byproduct of the fermentation of a plant. So

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Speaker 1: for wine, it's grapes, For beer, it's barley, for vode curates,

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Speaker 1: potatoes or sugar or rice gin it's juniper berries. And

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Speaker 1: fermentation basically just means that the fruit is rotting, it's fermenting.

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Speaker 1: So when you drink alcohol, you're basically just drinking some

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Speaker 1: really funky juice. You know, something that is rotten. And

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Speaker 1: it's important to note that our body actually sees that

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Speaker 1: in some ways as poison, like it's not meant to

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Speaker 1: be here, even if it feels nice. If you, for example,

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Speaker 1: see someone throw up from drinking too much alcohol on

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Speaker 1: a night out, that is basically your body being like,

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Speaker 1: oh my gosh, we have been poisoned. Get this stuff

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Speaker 1: out of me. And I remember someone telling me that

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Speaker 1: when I was at Uni. Actually she was like, that

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Speaker 1: is your body responding to an overdose, a poison overdose,

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Speaker 1: And it really changed my whole perspective on how much

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Speaker 1: I would drink on a night out. Like binge drinking

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Speaker 1: was just so casually prevalent in my university experience that

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Speaker 1: hearing that person explain it that way like kind of

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Speaker 1: really shocked me. So, you know, on a less extreme note,

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Speaker 1: when our body metabolizes alcohol ethanol, even in small quantities,

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Speaker 1: a number of things happen. I'm not going to get

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Speaker 1: too scientific, but essentially it can only be processed by

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Speaker 1: our liver, which essentially does see ethanol as something that

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Speaker 1: is harmful and it tries to clear it out of

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Speaker 1: our system. It tries to clear it out of our

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Speaker 1: body by processing it. But when we have more than

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Speaker 1: the liver can process at any given time. This excess

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Speaker 1: alcohol in our body is what starts to give us

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Speaker 1: that loose, drunken, tipsy feeling because the alcohol is not

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Speaker 1: being processed as fast as it's coming in. That's not

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Speaker 1: necessarily a problem at low levels. Only at high levels,

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Speaker 1: and all those feelings that we are going to be

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Speaker 1: experiencing occur because alcohol is not only a drug, but

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Speaker 1: it's what we call a depressant drug. So in comparison

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Speaker 1: to stimulant drugs like MDMA, cocaine, that sort of thing

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Speaker 1: we have to press in drugs like alcohol marijuana. Now

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Speaker 1: they're called depressants because of the impact they have on

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Speaker 1: the central nervous system. And the impact that alcohol or

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Speaker 1: ethanol has is one of basically sedation. So your central

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Speaker 1: nervous system, hear that come up a lot. It is

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Speaker 1: made up of two things, your brain and your spine,

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Speaker 1: your spinal cord. And alcohol is actually one of the

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Speaker 1: few substances that can cross the blood brain barrier, meaning

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Speaker 1: that it can almost reach into our brain cells and

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Speaker 1: impact them directly.

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Speaker 2: And when it.

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Speaker 1: Does that, it slows everything down and it disrupts normal functioning.

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Speaker 1: So basically, at any given moment, right now, you right now,

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Speaker 1: listening to this podcast, all of your neurons in your

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Speaker 1: brain are chattering away. They're sending information back and forth

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Speaker 1: like little workers in a big warehouse, and they're thinking, oh,

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Speaker 1: this is interesting, this is an interesting. Pay attention to this.

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Speaker 1: While you're watching the road, while you're cleaning. They're sourcing

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Speaker 1: all this information. And alcohol is like going into that

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Speaker 1: warehouse and slowly turning down the lights so that none

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Speaker 1: of those little worker neurons can see where they're going,

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Speaker 1: and they can't talk as easily. That is basically alcohol's effect.

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Speaker 1: It is kind of shutting down the systems, making it

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Speaker 1: harder for your neurons to talk. Now, this, this depress

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Speaker 1: an effect on our brain is what creates so many

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Speaker 1: of those typical effects that we associate with drinking. So

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Speaker 1: big one feeling a little bit clumsy, a bit slower,

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Speaker 1: but also less inhibited because all of those parts of

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Speaker 1: your brain that would normally tell you to hush or

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Speaker 1: would respond to physical stimuli, they are kind of quietening down.

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Speaker 1: They're finding it harder to communicate with each other. Think

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Speaker 1: about like, in a normal circumstance, you go to say

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Speaker 1: something embarrassing or weird, and your brain goes Okay, let's

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Speaker 1: read this, Let's read the cues. Let's think this through.

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Speaker 1: We're not going to say that, but when you're drinking,

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Speaker 1: your brain gets to that realization a little bit too slow.

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Speaker 1: It all so slows down our anxiety, meaning that your

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Speaker 1: anxious thoughts for a lot of us finally seem quieter.

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Speaker 1: We're going to talk about that in a second and

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Speaker 1: why that's actually going to backfire on you. Another impact

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Speaker 1: that alcohol has that comes from that sedative effect is

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Speaker 1: slurred speech. It's why you should also never drive when drinking,

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Speaker 1: because your response times are slower, even if you don't

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Speaker 1: think that they are. It's why we feel sleepy. Alcohol

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Speaker 1: also causes our brain to release something called opioid peptides,

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Speaker 1: which basically are the thing that signals the brain to

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Speaker 1: release dopamine and serotonin. And when they do, those areas

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Speaker 1: of our brain open the floodglates and they let out.

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Speaker 1: They make more of these neurotransmitters available to us, which

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Speaker 1: is what makes us feel really happy and euphoric because

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Speaker 1: of how this substance impacts our reward pathways and also

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Speaker 1: the release of dolphins. So alcohol triggers opioid peptides, which

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Speaker 1: trigger dopamine and serotonin and in the process also release

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Speaker 1: releases in dolphins. It's interesting because they actually only really

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Speaker 1: discovered that this is what was happening, this peptide to

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Speaker 1: don't mean to endorphin link about twelve years ago. You know,

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Speaker 1: they long assumed it, but it was really hard to

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Speaker 1: prove that this was what was why alcohol made us

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Speaker 1: so happy. The way they did finally prove it was

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Speaker 1: that they did a study back in twenty twelve where

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Speaker 1: they injected twenty five people, half of whom were heavy drinkers,

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Speaker 1: half of whom weren't, with a drug that would bind

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Speaker 1: to their opioid receptors. But then they radioactively tagged those receptors,

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Speaker 1: so they basically gave them like a low level of

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Speaker 1: a drug that stimulated their opioid receptors, and that drug

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Speaker 1: would obviously attach to those receptors so they could see

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Speaker 1: where they were in the brain. And then they asked

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Speaker 1: them to drink alcohol. And the people who got particularly

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Speaker 1: a lot of pleasure out of drinking, so heavy drinkers,

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Speaker 1: they all those areas, those places where the opioid peptides

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Speaker 1: were located based on that previous drug insertion. They lit

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Speaker 1: up even further, and so that really showed researchers and

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Speaker 1: scientists only twelve years ago that that was the system

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Speaker 1: and the reason why we get that euphoric feeling. So

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Speaker 1: the effects of alcohol they're not just physical and biological,

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Speaker 1: they're also really psychological, not just because of that happy feeling,

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Speaker 1: but because of the impact on our mind and our

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Speaker 1: mood in general, and also our personality. This amazing paper

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Speaker 1: from two thousand and eight titled why do we drink

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Speaker 1: puts it really perfectly. We drink because of alcohol's ability

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Speaker 1: to alter our emotional state and make us more like

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Speaker 1: the person we actually want to be, even if just

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Speaker 1: for a second. We want to be the confident person,

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Speaker 1: the relaxed person, the disinhibited person, the less stress person.

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Speaker 1: And because alcohol gives us a gateway to this realization

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Speaker 1: of the ideal self, that is actually what can make

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Speaker 1: it so addictive and what can fuel dependency. You know,

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Speaker 1: it's not just the feeling, it's who it makes us

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Speaker 1: become in comparison to who we are in our everyday lives.

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Speaker 1: You know, that is one factor. I also think the

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Speaker 1: other factor why the other reason it's so normalized and

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Speaker 1: while widely used, is of course, the social element to it.

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Speaker 1: How can we forget that?

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Speaker 2: You know, that.

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Speaker 1: Social celibratory component to the use of alcohol is what

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Speaker 1: makes it so hard for us to contemplate stepping away

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Speaker 1: from it, because we think that we're going to miss

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Speaker 1: out on so many other things. You know, for millennium,

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Speaker 1: people have known that alcohol makes us have more fun,

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Speaker 1: it makes us merry, makes us open, more relaxed, and

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Speaker 1: so it has become integrated into our our culture, our

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Speaker 1: way of communicating and socializing. You know, the earliest evidence

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Speaker 1: of humans making and drinking alcohol was from seven thousand BC,

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Speaker 1: before Christ. That is a lot of years ago. That

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Speaker 1: is definitely not modern history. Actually, where they found this

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Speaker 1: wine was in China in what is now known as

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Speaker 1: the Yellow River Valley, and it really goes to show

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Speaker 1: that humans have for a long time used this substance

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Speaker 1: to alter their state of mind and for enjoyment.

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Speaker 2: Now, you can obviously.

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Speaker 1: Get this buzzed, you for it relaxed feeling from even

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Speaker 1: just one drink, even a couple of drinks, but at

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Speaker 1: some point your body can't process the alcohol fast enough,

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Speaker 1: and so initially you will get that buzzed feeling, and

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Speaker 1: then you'll start feeling nauseous, dizzy.

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Speaker 2: Confused, and you may even blackout.

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Speaker 1: Let's actually talk about what happens to your brain when

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Speaker 1: you blackout. Now I'm talking blacking out passing out, So

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Speaker 1: not like, you know, being completely unconscious, but being conscious

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Speaker 1: but having no memory of what has happened. When this happens,

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Speaker 1: you've basically drunk enough alcohol to disrupt a really vital

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Speaker 1: part of your brain called the hippocampus. Now, this part

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Speaker 1: of your brain, it's responsible for a lot of things,

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Speaker 1: but in this context, it's really responsible for consolidating and

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Speaker 1: storing memories. So although you might be awake and you

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Speaker 1: might be currently experiencing your reality, your brain cannot take

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Speaker 1: those moments and store them properly. So that is what

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Speaker 1: leads to those gaps in what you can remember everything

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Speaker 1: that you're experiencing when you're really drunk on a night

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Speaker 1: out or wherever you are. Basically, it's only able to

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Speaker 1: be temporarily held in sensory and short term memory, which

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Speaker 1: you know normally has a life expectancy of about a

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Speaker 1: couple of minutes. So that's why you might wake up

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Speaker 1: the next morning and so, hey, this is so blurry,

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Speaker 1: I can't remember saying that I can't remember doing that,

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Speaker 1: even though you hadn't necessarily passed out at any point.

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Speaker 1: When we pass out, on the other hand, what we're

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Speaker 1: experiencing is as I described before, basically minor alcohol poisoning.

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Speaker 1: And when I say minor, I mean less extreme than

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Speaker 1: the worst case scenario. But honestly, any kind of alcohol

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Speaker 1: poisoning is not that great. And the next morning, you know,

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Speaker 1: how can we talk about the psychology of alcohol and

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Speaker 1: not talk about the next day. When we've drunk past

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Speaker 1: that limit, we get a hangover, and that's typically due

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Speaker 1: to dehydration and because when your liver breaks down alcohol,

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Speaker 1: a byproduct is called en settle a hyde, which is

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Speaker 1: what makes you really nauseous and gives you headaches. And

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Speaker 1: then we also have anxiety as a component of that.

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Speaker 1: I made a full episode on anxiety maybe two years ago.

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Speaker 1: The episode is called The Psychology of Anxiety that goes

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Speaker 1: really into depth on this subject, but as a summary,

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Speaker 1: when we drink, part of why we feel that calm

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Speaker 1: feeling I was talking about is also because of the

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Speaker 1: release of a neurotransmitter called gabba, and in response to alcohol,

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Speaker 1: our brain dumps a bunch of this into our body.

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Speaker 1: Gaba has that the sedative effect. It really slows things down.

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Speaker 1: It reduces your anxiety, It reduces chata.

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Speaker 2: Between your neurons.

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Speaker 1: The next day though, our brain is like, all right, cool,

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Speaker 1: we need to get everything back and balance now, so

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Speaker 1: it releases more of gabba's counterpart, glutamate. Now, glutamate has

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Speaker 1: the opposite effect. It has an exciderary effect, and that

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Speaker 1: is why you feel quite anxious the next morning, because

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Speaker 1: it takes a while for your brain to really find

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Speaker 1: the right level and restore that normal chemical balance. So

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Speaker 1: it's pumping in more glutamate, pumping in more gaba, pumping

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Speaker 1: in more glutamating, and you know they're kind of trying

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Speaker 1: to race to the top, and your anxiety is rising

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Speaker 1: and rising. That is why you can feel really overwhelmed by,

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Speaker 1: oh my god, what did.

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Speaker 2: I say last night? What did I do?

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Speaker 1: Even when you didn't do anything, you feel like there's

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Speaker 1: this lingering sense that something is wrong and this rising

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Speaker 1: anxiety in your body that, my friends, is glutamate. So

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Speaker 1: I think you know that even that interaction between gabber

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Speaker 1: and glutamate really sums up alcohol consumption for me. For

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Speaker 1: every reaction you have with alcohol, there is a counter reaction.

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Speaker 1: You might feel happy and merry, but then the next

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Speaker 1: day you might feel sad and depressed. When the buzz

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Speaker 1: wears off. You might feel uninhibited, but the next day

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Speaker 1: you feel anxious again. And for me, alcohol also was

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Speaker 1: just a really terrible contributor to my mental health because obviously,

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Speaker 1: like you're feeling stressed and overwhelmed, you've had a really

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Speaker 1: hard day, you might have a couple glasses of wine.

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Speaker 1: But I was finding that I would wake up the

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Speaker 1: next day. Firstly, I wasn't as productive. I didn't have

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Speaker 1: a much mental clarity, which is so important to me.

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Speaker 1: But secondly, all of my anxious, stressful, worrisome feelings and

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Speaker 1: sensations were just heightened and elevated, and it was unbearable.

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Speaker 1: And that is something that I have noticed, you know,

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Speaker 1: in this short period of time and the two weeks

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Speaker 1: that I haven't been drinking, my anxiety symptoms have declined,

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Speaker 1: like they're still there, but they feel manageable. Also, I'm getting,

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Speaker 1: you know, writing less of a wave, like an up

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Speaker 1: and down wave of spiked emotions from really jubilant to

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Speaker 1: really you know, terrified and sad. Very interested to see

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Speaker 1: how that goes, like in the next two weeks, after

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Speaker 1: a month, and even if I can do like six months,

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Speaker 1: I don't know. I've got, you know, my book coming out.

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Speaker 1: I kind of want to have a little glass of

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Speaker 1: champagne with that. But even in moderation, whether my alcohol

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Speaker 1: consumption is something that is directly correlated to poor men

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Speaker 1: health episodes for me, I do want to put in

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Speaker 1: like a little disclaimer here, like this advice and information

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Speaker 1: I'm presenting isn't presented in a way to just be

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Speaker 1: like everyone be sober and trying to dissuade you from

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Speaker 1: ever drinking again. Like I think I will eventually drink again.

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Speaker 1: I just also think that what I needed to understand

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Speaker 1: was some of the consequences and you know, really reacknowledging

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Speaker 1: myself what was happening in my body in response to

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Speaker 1: alcohol and whether I was willing to opt into that

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Speaker 1: interaction or whether I'd be better off without it. But

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Speaker 1: I honestly do think like I'll drink again. I probably

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Speaker 1: will get drunk again, probably a couple of times. So

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Speaker 1: this isn't like a blanket if you're listening to this

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Speaker 1: never drink again kind of episode. I just think that

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Speaker 1: any form of education gives you an informed choice. And

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Speaker 1: you can take this and be like, cool, I'm still

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Speaker 1: going to get blackout drunk, and I wouldn't you know, can,

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Speaker 1: I wouldn't promote that, But it's still your choice as

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Speaker 1: long as you know what you're doing to your body.

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Speaker 1: All right, let's take a shit short break because something

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Speaker 1: we haven't spoken about yet is the psychology behind alcohol

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Speaker 1: dependency and addiction. I think that deserves its whole section

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Speaker 1: of the podcast, so we will be back after this

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Speaker 1: short break. Why is it that some people cannot stop

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Speaker 1: drinking when they start? Why do some people get really drunk,

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Speaker 1: make terrible mistakes, ruin relationships and they still cannot quit. Basically,

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Speaker 1: I think the question that I'm asking is what makes

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Speaker 1: alcohol so addictive for some people? And it really, it

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Speaker 1: really is, even if we don't acknowledge it. Researchers at

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Speaker 1: Oxford University they've actually called it the second most addictive

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Speaker 1: drug on the planet, second only to heroin. Like that's

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Speaker 1: wild to me, Yet it's so widely accepted. If you

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Speaker 1: know we're all going around doing heroin every Friday, Saturday,

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Speaker 1: in odd Tuesday, you best believe that your friends would

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Speaker 1: be like, hey, intervention happening here. This isn't a good idea,

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Speaker 1: But alcohol is just not treated with the same level

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Speaker 1: of caution. What really makes alcohol so addictive, and I've

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Speaker 1: already kind of mentioned it is what it does to

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Speaker 1: us psychologically as well as physically and psychologically. What it

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Speaker 1: does is that it numbs us. But not only that,

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Speaker 1: it also lights up the reward centers in our brain.

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Speaker 1: So you know, of course our brain is going to

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Speaker 1: continue to repeat behaviors, will tell us to repeat behaviors

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Speaker 1: that are pleasurable, rewarding. And also, you know, alcohol provides

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Speaker 1: relief in a sense from really hard things, from negative circumstances.

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Speaker 1: When that association between you know, alcohol makes me happy,

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Speaker 1: alcohol takes away bad things. When that association becomes a pattern,

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Speaker 1: that becomes a habit, it becomes a lot harder and

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Speaker 1: harder to stop. We also have to acknowledge, you know,

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Speaker 1: a lot of people feel more like themselves, I guess

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Speaker 1: in their drunk state, and so of course they're going

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Speaker 1: to continue to drink, and sometimes drink heavily to put

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Speaker 1: them back in the shoes of this person they wish

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Speaker 1: that they were. This Really, this pattern and association is

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Speaker 1: really the neurological basis for addiction, and we typically see

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Speaker 1: addiction as happening in three stages. So for speaking of alcohol,

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Speaker 1: often people begin with the binge and intoxication stage, where

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Speaker 1: we're experiencing all the pleasure, we're experiencing, all the happy thoughts.

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Speaker 1: We associate drinking with really fun things, environments, people, and

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Speaker 1: it hasn't gotten bad yet. But then we get to

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Speaker 1: the withdrawal period, where it just feels crap to not

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Speaker 1: be drinking because of the hangovers, whatever, and also the

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Speaker 1: negative effects stage. So when we do stop, we become irritable, sad, depressed, anxious, anxious,

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Speaker 1: so we drink again to reduce the stress of not drinking.

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Speaker 1: And then that is really followed by the preoccupation and

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Speaker 1: anticipation stage. This is when we have strong urges, we

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Speaker 1: have cravings when they're not acceptable. Maybe we are watching

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Speaker 1: the clock for five PM with sneaking.

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Speaker 2: Drinks at work.

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Speaker 1: This is where we don't feel like we can have

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Speaker 1: fun without it, we don't think we can function without it,

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Speaker 1: and it's where you know, alcohol abuse disorder and alcohol

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Speaker 1: addiction really kind of takes hold. Some of us are

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Speaker 1: more prone to this than others. And one of the

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Speaker 1: biggest factors that makes us more prone to it is genetics.

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Speaker 1: It's genetic factors, and recent studies, including one from only

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Speaker 1: last year, have showed that there are certain genes associated

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Speaker 1: with an addiction or dependency on alcohol, and those genes

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Speaker 1: are inherited some you know, scientists, some researchers even call

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Speaker 1: substance use disorders or alcoholism a complex genetic disease, a

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Speaker 1: genetic disease like you know, those that cause birth defects

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Speaker 1: or birth deformities. And it's also linked to generational trauma.

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Speaker 1: It's linked to environment, to learned behaviors, all of which

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Speaker 1: are kind of passed down from those above us, passed

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Speaker 1: down from our family. And you know, of course trauma

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Speaker 1: comes into play here. You know, a study in Australia

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Speaker 1: found that a third of adults who were exposed to

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Speaker 1: childhood trauma go on to abuse alcohol later in life,

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Speaker 1: a third of them. And you know, as a country

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Speaker 1: who has Australia being you know as a terrible history,

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Speaker 1: a terrible, terrible history, you know, you can see why

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Speaker 1: people whose families and whose culture have endured that suffering

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Speaker 1: would have problems with alcohol because, as it's called it's

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Speaker 1: a complex genetic and generational disease. That's how some people

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Speaker 1: really see it. This is why I really think that

432
00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:04,119
Speaker 1: people who struggle with alcoholism or substance addiction or abuse

433
00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:07,480
Speaker 1: of any kind, they deserve so much sympathy.

434
00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:10,200
Speaker 2: Maybe people will get upset.

435
00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:11,720
Speaker 1: At me for saying that and say, you know, I

436
00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:13,520
Speaker 1: know my uncle has this, and he doesn't deserve a

437
00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:16,800
Speaker 1: lick of sympathy. He did this to himself. That's your

438
00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:19,639
Speaker 1: perspective and your truth. What I'm saying is that I

439
00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:24,880
Speaker 1: don't think anyone would choose that life for themselves. No one,

440
00:26:25,119 --> 00:26:27,400
Speaker 1: as a child, as a three four five year old

441
00:26:27,440 --> 00:26:30,120
Speaker 1: says when I grow up, I want to be dependent

442
00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:33,880
Speaker 1: on alcohol. No one dreams of that. But I've also

443
00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:37,960
Speaker 1: seen in my own life how easy it is to

444
00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:40,280
Speaker 1: fall into that pattern. I've seen this in people that

445
00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:44,800
Speaker 1: I know who seem totally fine and normal but have

446
00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:48,560
Speaker 1: serious problems with alcohol. They're just able to hide it

447
00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:51,760
Speaker 1: because they have a good support network, because of you know,

448
00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:53,240
Speaker 1: other things.

449
00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:53,720
Speaker 2: In their life.

450
00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:56,960
Speaker 1: You know, I just don't think that it really comes

451
00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:01,760
Speaker 1: down to not being disciplined. I think that or being lazy.

452
00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:06,520
Speaker 1: I really actually think that it can happen to anyone.

453
00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:10,880
Speaker 1: All it takes is one tragedy, one bad year, one

454
00:27:11,119 --> 00:27:16,000
Speaker 1: instance of bad luck, and all you have left might

455
00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:19,359
Speaker 1: be alcohol. That is how you self soothe. And I

456
00:27:19,359 --> 00:27:22,280
Speaker 1: think it's as simple as that it's such a widely

457
00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:26,440
Speaker 1: available and accepted drug that there's also people who don't

458
00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:28,600
Speaker 1: even question that they might have a problem until it's

459
00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:29,080
Speaker 1: too late.

460
00:27:29,119 --> 00:27:29,320
Speaker 2: You know.

461
00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:33,840
Speaker 1: Living in Australia, we have such a huge binge drinking

462
00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:37,199
Speaker 1: culture that I'm so sure that there are people I

463
00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:39,919
Speaker 1: would even know who don't even realize that they have

464
00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:42,600
Speaker 1: a problem until they would try to stop, until they'd

465
00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:45,640
Speaker 1: try to quit, and you know they couldn't do it,

466
00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,840
Speaker 1: like even I struggled. There's also the important thing to remember,

467
00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:52,040
Speaker 1: which is that alcohol is commonly used as a maladaptive

468
00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:56,560
Speaker 1: coping mechanism because of again, how it can be used

469
00:27:56,600 --> 00:28:00,440
Speaker 1: to help us manage stress, bad thoughts, inadequacy. It does

470
00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:04,600
Speaker 1: remove bad feelings, but it also prevents a deeper, truer

471
00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:08,879
Speaker 1: form of emotional coping. I think we really need to

472
00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:12,600
Speaker 1: articulate the distinction here between dependence, abuse and addiction, because

473
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:16,760
Speaker 1: they are used very interchangeably. Even I've been doing so

474
00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:19,720
Speaker 1: so let's clarify this for a second. When people use

475
00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:23,760
Speaker 1: the term dependence, they are usually referring to a physical

476
00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:27,640
Speaker 1: dependence on a substance. So what that is characterized by

477
00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:33,199
Speaker 1: is symptoms of increased tolerance, so it's harder for you

478
00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:36,480
Speaker 1: to get drunk even as you drink more. And also withdrawal,

479
00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:40,400
Speaker 1: so obviously withdrawal is the removal of the substance.

480
00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:41,360
Speaker 2: When you are sober.

481
00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:44,280
Speaker 1: It doesn't feel great, you feel sick, you feel gross

482
00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:49,040
Speaker 1: as the alcohol leaves your body. And while it's possible

483
00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:55,000
Speaker 1: to have a physical dependence without being addicted, often it's

484
00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:57,680
Speaker 1: a very slippery slope and it's right around the corner.

485
00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:01,680
Speaker 1: Addiction is one step above dependence because it's marked by

486
00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:04,640
Speaker 1: a change in behavior that is caused not only by

487
00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:08,400
Speaker 1: biochemical changes in the brain from using alcohol, but also

488
00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:12,960
Speaker 1: psychological changes you know, linked to substance abuse. The substance,

489
00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:16,560
Speaker 1: and in this case it's alcohol, becomes the main priority

490
00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:21,120
Speaker 1: for someone who is suffering from addiction, regardless of the

491
00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:24,640
Speaker 1: harm they cause to themselves or others. So this is

492
00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:27,840
Speaker 1: a really important part, even if it's hurting family members,

493
00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:30,280
Speaker 1: even if you're going to lose your job, like you

494
00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:36,400
Speaker 1: just cannot stop you just cannot stop. Something interesting, though,

495
00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:40,240
Speaker 1: is that you can be addicted to alcohol and not

496
00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:43,320
Speaker 1: abusing it or even using it, Like you could be

497
00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:48,320
Speaker 1: completely sober and still addicted to alcohol, which sounds strange,

498
00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:51,960
Speaker 1: but it's actually a very core philosophy of alcoholics anonymous

499
00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:55,120
Speaker 1: that you're basically always going to be an addict.

500
00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:55,760
Speaker 2: You know.

501
00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:58,600
Speaker 1: There was some controversy around this because if you tell

502
00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:01,600
Speaker 1: someone who's zero day is so hey, no matter what

503
00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:03,240
Speaker 1: you do, you're always going to be an addict, and

504
00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:06,080
Speaker 1: that is a bad, dirty word, so you better not

505
00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:08,760
Speaker 1: it's not even worth trying. Like, that's not a fun

506
00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:11,960
Speaker 1: thing to hear, you know, it's not a fun thing

507
00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:14,400
Speaker 1: to think that you're forever going to be under the

508
00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:17,240
Speaker 1: control of this substance, or your identity is going to

509
00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:21,440
Speaker 1: be associated with this substance. So some people have said

510
00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:24,080
Speaker 1: that idea that you're always an addict is not necessarily

511
00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:26,440
Speaker 1: good for an optimistic internal environment.

512
00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:28,040
Speaker 2: But there are people.

513
00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:30,960
Speaker 1: Who say, you know, knowing that you are someone who

514
00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:33,160
Speaker 1: is always going to be an addict, who was an addict,

515
00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:36,160
Speaker 1: serves as a good reminder to them that they do

516
00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:40,480
Speaker 1: have a more addictive prone personality, so they shouldn't take

517
00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:45,640
Speaker 1: chances even trying to drink alcoholism in a normal way,

518
00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:48,480
Speaker 1: like that is not something that they can do. So,

519
00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:51,280
Speaker 1: wherever you sit on that kind of scale of whether

520
00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:53,720
Speaker 1: you think it should exist, that you're always an addict

521
00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:56,880
Speaker 1: or not, like it's very much an individual choice, what's

522
00:30:56,920 --> 00:31:01,160
Speaker 1: going to allow you to move past dependency and addiction

523
00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:05,640
Speaker 1: in the best way. There is also, I think one

524
00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:09,800
Speaker 1: less severe level of alcohol dependence or abuse that I

525
00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:15,719
Speaker 1: would call context based dependence. And I think this particularly

526
00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:19,480
Speaker 1: applies to our twenties. You might not have a problem

527
00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:22,440
Speaker 1: with alcohol. You might be able to stop for weeks

528
00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:24,960
Speaker 1: or months, maybe just weeks, let's say that, maybe a

529
00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:28,600
Speaker 1: couple of days. But you know, every time your friends say,

530
00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:31,840
Speaker 1: come out with us, let's go to the club. My god,

531
00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:34,520
Speaker 1: I sound so old, Like let's go clubbing, let's go out,

532
00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:37,320
Speaker 1: let's go to this party, you have to drink. You

533
00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:39,720
Speaker 1: feel like once you're in that environment there.

534
00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:41,520
Speaker 2: Is no stopping you.

535
00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:45,800
Speaker 1: That is not just addiction in the traditional sense, but

536
00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:51,280
Speaker 1: rather a context a contextual reliance on alcohol kind of

537
00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:53,320
Speaker 1: as a social lubricant or a way to fit in.

538
00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:56,400
Speaker 1: Like you could not imagine going to something and not drinking,

539
00:31:56,400 --> 00:31:58,880
Speaker 1: And when you do, it's incredibly hard.

540
00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:00,720
Speaker 2: I think in these.

541
00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:04,480
Speaker 1: Moments, drinking really does become tied to the context rather

542
00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:08,479
Speaker 1: than a personal craving. Like this kind of dependence is subtle,

543
00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:11,080
Speaker 1: because when you're not in those environments, you might not

544
00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:14,480
Speaker 1: want to drink at all, but it's also something that means,

545
00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:17,440
Speaker 1: you know, it's also a form of dependence that can

546
00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:20,920
Speaker 1: go unnoticed. I think it's especially problematic when you're someone

547
00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:24,920
Speaker 1: who gets to the party and can't stop drinking. So

548
00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:28,520
Speaker 1: I think it's really worth reflecting on whether the choice

549
00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:30,800
Speaker 1: to drink in those moments is truly yours or if

550
00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:34,800
Speaker 1: you're being influenced by the environment, by other people's expectations

551
00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:38,800
Speaker 1: of you, and kind of just like this context based reliance.

552
00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:41,160
Speaker 1: You know, if you don't feel good after drinking, and

553
00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:43,440
Speaker 1: if you always like, God, I don't want to do

554
00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:46,720
Speaker 1: that again. If you feel pressured, if you know you

555
00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:48,160
Speaker 1: want to go for a run the next day but

556
00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:51,520
Speaker 1: you still end up going too far, I think that

557
00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:53,800
Speaker 1: that's when you know it's a bit of a dangerous

558
00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:57,880
Speaker 1: social habit. Perhaps even for you. It's more linked to

559
00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:01,720
Speaker 1: FOMA right in the way alcohol juices stress in a

560
00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:04,640
Speaker 1: situation or makes it feel like you belong. You don't

561
00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:06,880
Speaker 1: want to miss out on the fun. Perhaps it's a

562
00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:10,000
Speaker 1: fear of social exclusion, of not being part of the

563
00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:13,280
Speaker 1: interesting stories, of not being part of the moment, But

564
00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:15,200
Speaker 1: it is something that I think if you're in your twenties,

565
00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:19,280
Speaker 1: you need to recognize how does drinking and social acceptance

566
00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:23,240
Speaker 1: go hand in hand. Something really positive that I've seen.

567
00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:26,000
Speaker 1: You know, more and more though, is a lot of

568
00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:29,840
Speaker 1: us taking the sober route or being sober curious, that's

569
00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:30,480
Speaker 1: the name for it.

570
00:33:30,560 --> 00:33:31,160
Speaker 2: These days.

571
00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:33,680
Speaker 1: You know, there is this idea that you're either a

572
00:33:33,720 --> 00:33:37,840
Speaker 1: problem drinker, an alcoholic, or a normal drinker who has

573
00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:41,360
Speaker 1: no issues with alcohol. But more and more definitely seeing

574
00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:45,720
Speaker 1: these like shades of gray when it comes to dependency

575
00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:51,280
Speaker 1: and sober curiosity. Is this amazing kind of lifestyle choice

576
00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:55,040
Speaker 1: that doesn't require complete commitment to going sober for the

577
00:33:55,040 --> 00:33:56,840
Speaker 1: rest of your life, but it does mean that you

578
00:33:56,880 --> 00:34:01,160
Speaker 1: can choose to kind of dip your toes into occasional

579
00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:05,000
Speaker 1: or periodic sobriety and just kind of modify your drinking

580
00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:10,080
Speaker 1: habits without feeling like it's all or nothing. You know,

581
00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:14,040
Speaker 1: it's not because you're necessarily worried about dependency it's more

582
00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:17,800
Speaker 1: that you've evaluated what drinking costs you versus what you

583
00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:21,560
Speaker 1: would benefit from cutting down or going sober for small

584
00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:24,680
Speaker 1: periods of time. I have noticed that more and more

585
00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:28,719
Speaker 1: in my own social circles. Something I actually noticed recently

586
00:34:29,200 --> 00:34:33,560
Speaker 1: was more non alcoholic drinks being available at parties.

587
00:34:33,920 --> 00:34:35,000
Speaker 2: It's become a lot.

588
00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:36,880
Speaker 1: More normal to ask someone like, are you drinking at

589
00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:40,120
Speaker 1: the moment, rather than just assuming that they are more

590
00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:43,640
Speaker 1: people doing dry jen or dry July. And I think

591
00:34:43,680 --> 00:34:47,040
Speaker 1: that's really something we can expect more as we deprioritize

592
00:34:47,120 --> 00:34:51,000
Speaker 1: drinking or make small swaps. And you know, I promise

593
00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:53,239
Speaker 1: to tell you what I've noticed. Mental health thing has

594
00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:56,400
Speaker 1: been one thing, but there are so many other benefits.

595
00:34:56,480 --> 00:34:59,120
Speaker 1: You sleep better, you are less stressed because you're not

596
00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:03,879
Speaker 1: artificially elevating and then lowering and then elevating again your

597
00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:06,680
Speaker 1: gabber and glutamate levels, so your brain and body is

598
00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:10,600
Speaker 1: able to find that sweet spot and stay there. You know,

599
00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:13,080
Speaker 1: if you drink quite a bit and then you suddenly stop,

600
00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:16,520
Speaker 1: sometimes you do experience like a strange spike and anxiety

601
00:35:16,600 --> 00:35:19,680
Speaker 1: in the first few weeks because your brain is adjusting

602
00:35:19,719 --> 00:35:22,960
Speaker 1: to not having this substance. To reduce or relax it.

603
00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:26,160
Speaker 1: But after a while, like it turns out that your

604
00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:29,000
Speaker 1: body can manage that stress itself, it doesn't need the

605
00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:33,640
Speaker 1: help of alcohol. We also see regeneration in the frontal lobe,

606
00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:37,040
Speaker 1: which is where alcohol hits the hardest. The frontal lobe

607
00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:39,960
Speaker 1: and the cerebellum, and the frontal lobe is responsible for

608
00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:43,400
Speaker 1: a lot of our executive functioning and decision making, self control,

609
00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:47,960
Speaker 1: our emotions, personality, And sometimes you might not know it,

610
00:35:48,160 --> 00:35:52,800
Speaker 1: but prolonged and heavy drinking actually kills off brain cells

611
00:35:52,840 --> 00:35:55,280
Speaker 1: in that area and across the brain, and it causes

612
00:35:55,719 --> 00:36:00,160
Speaker 1: your brain to shrink, It reduces brain volume. So that

613
00:36:00,280 --> 00:36:03,960
Speaker 1: is why alcohol is so often implicated in neurological diseases

614
00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:07,600
Speaker 1: like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. When you are young and you

615
00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:10,560
Speaker 1: cut back, you're giving your brain more of a chance,

616
00:36:11,120 --> 00:36:15,640
Speaker 1: and you're allowing your brain space to prune, rewire, keep

617
00:36:15,680 --> 00:36:18,960
Speaker 1: those cells healthy. And that's why you may see an

618
00:36:19,040 --> 00:36:22,480
Speaker 1: increase in mental clarity. Oh my goodness, if I have

619
00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:26,880
Speaker 1: not noticed that I have less brain fog, almost none.

620
00:36:27,080 --> 00:36:30,960
Speaker 1: At the moment, you feel refreshed, you can get more done. Also,

621
00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:33,520
Speaker 1: you know, because your sleep is likely improved as well,

622
00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:36,919
Speaker 1: Like this is all coming together. It's a common myth

623
00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:40,400
Speaker 1: that you know, alcohol helps you sleep. It's where the

624
00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:43,520
Speaker 1: term nightcap came from, like having a drink a cap

625
00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:47,200
Speaker 1: of something to help you fall asleep. Actually, to myth,

626
00:36:47,239 --> 00:36:47,879
Speaker 1: bust that one.

627
00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:48,239
Speaker 2: For you.

628
00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:53,640
Speaker 1: Drinking worsens your sleep quality significantly because it makes it

629
00:36:53,680 --> 00:36:57,600
Speaker 1: harder for you to enter and therefore stay in rem sleep.

630
00:36:57,800 --> 00:37:01,520
Speaker 1: So not drinking better, shut up. One of the things

631
00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:05,160
Speaker 1: I've also noticed that I didn't expect was how much

632
00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:09,520
Speaker 1: inflammation went away in my face particularly, but also in

633
00:37:09,560 --> 00:37:13,240
Speaker 1: my body, Like within a week, I wasn't as puffy,

634
00:37:13,719 --> 00:37:17,080
Speaker 1: I got less headaches, my skin was breaking out less,

635
00:37:17,120 --> 00:37:20,279
Speaker 1: it looked healthier. And that was just me going from

636
00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:24,279
Speaker 1: like mid range social drinking to no drinking at all.

637
00:37:24,320 --> 00:37:28,040
Speaker 1: And it's still made a really big difference, Like, oh

638
00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:32,120
Speaker 1: my goodness, even my hands and like my face is

639
00:37:32,120 --> 00:37:35,040
Speaker 1: the big one where I just feel less like bloated

640
00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:39,160
Speaker 1: and less like puffy. And it's really hard to like

641
00:37:39,320 --> 00:37:42,480
Speaker 1: see I think if you are someone like just like

642
00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:44,600
Speaker 1: a friend or a stranger and you weren't seeing my

643
00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:47,600
Speaker 1: face every day, but obviously as someone who sees it

644
00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:52,200
Speaker 1: every day, like I've definitely noticed this decline. Your liver

645
00:37:52,480 --> 00:37:55,200
Speaker 1: your heart. They both do better. And this raises a

646
00:37:55,239 --> 00:37:58,320
Speaker 1: really important point I haven't spoken about yet, which is

647
00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:01,600
Speaker 1: another myth, the myth that alcohol is actually good for

648
00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:05,000
Speaker 1: our health. I listened to this fascinating podcast by The

649
00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:08,480
Speaker 1: New York Times called How Bad Is Alcohol for You Really,

650
00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:12,719
Speaker 1: in which they basically debunk this idea that alcohol has

651
00:38:12,880 --> 00:38:16,160
Speaker 1: any health benefit. Most of us have probably heard this

652
00:38:16,239 --> 00:38:20,239
Speaker 1: suggestion or this quote unquote fact that a glass of

653
00:38:20,280 --> 00:38:23,320
Speaker 1: red wine is like good for your heart, it has antioxidants,

654
00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:24,840
Speaker 1: like it was even a fact that was like in

655
00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:27,359
Speaker 1: the episode, like in an episode of the Office. It's

656
00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:31,040
Speaker 1: so commonly spread. But actually, when you review the study

657
00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:34,960
Speaker 1: that this fact is taken from the way they interpreted

658
00:38:34,960 --> 00:38:38,120
Speaker 1: their data was really misleading, and now so many people

659
00:38:38,640 --> 00:38:43,080
Speaker 1: believe a false conclusion. When they conducted this original study,

660
00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:47,360
Speaker 1: they basically looked at people who drank versus didn't drink.

661
00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:50,360
Speaker 1: And you know, the people who did drink it was

662
00:38:50,440 --> 00:38:53,840
Speaker 1: quite moderate, maybe a couple of glasses of wine. And

663
00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:56,480
Speaker 1: what they found was that those who drank moderately were

664
00:38:56,520 --> 00:38:59,279
Speaker 1: healthier than those who didn't drink at all. And it

665
00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:01,480
Speaker 1: was this huge vine at the time. But what they

666
00:39:01,560 --> 00:39:05,480
Speaker 1: didn't control for, and anyone studying psychology knows you need

667
00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:09,320
Speaker 1: to control for your confounding extraneous variables. They didn't control

668
00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:11,880
Speaker 1: for the people who were in that sober group who

669
00:39:11,920 --> 00:39:15,799
Speaker 1: had stopped drinking because they had a real problem and

670
00:39:15,840 --> 00:39:19,359
Speaker 1: it had begun to impact their health. Now, it's kind

671
00:39:19,360 --> 00:39:23,000
Speaker 1: of hard these days to find someone who is completely sober,

672
00:39:23,920 --> 00:39:26,200
Speaker 1: and one of the reasons that someone might be completely

673
00:39:26,200 --> 00:39:28,080
Speaker 1: sober is because they can't drink.

674
00:39:28,840 --> 00:39:30,240
Speaker 2: So all of those people.

675
00:39:30,080 --> 00:39:33,120
Speaker 1: Who were included in the no drinking group, it wasn't

676
00:39:33,160 --> 00:39:36,040
Speaker 1: like they'd never drunk before in their life. It was

677
00:39:36,080 --> 00:39:39,239
Speaker 1: actually the opposite. They had a problem, and so they

678
00:39:39,239 --> 00:39:42,480
Speaker 1: were basically pulling down the group average of non drinkers

679
00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:46,200
Speaker 1: compared to casual drinkers, so it looked like the casual

680
00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:50,520
Speaker 1: drinkers were healthier. That is a classic example in psychology

681
00:39:50,560 --> 00:39:54,400
Speaker 1: research of poor sampling methods, not controlling for your extraneous

682
00:39:54,480 --> 00:39:58,839
Speaker 1: or confounding variables, and knowing that now you know, there's

683
00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:01,680
Speaker 1: been so many more studies come out saying, actually, this

684
00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:03,600
Speaker 1: is not good for your heart, this is not good

685
00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:07,440
Speaker 1: for your liver, this causes cancer. There are entire countries

686
00:40:07,719 --> 00:40:11,840
Speaker 1: that have changed their dietary recommendations when it comes to alcohol,

687
00:40:11,920 --> 00:40:14,560
Speaker 1: saying it is not safe for you to drink it all.

688
00:40:14,760 --> 00:40:18,520
Speaker 1: It will increase your likelihood of dying, maybe only by

689
00:40:18,520 --> 00:40:23,040
Speaker 1: a tiny, tiny, tiny tiny bit, but still Actually, interestingly,

690
00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:25,640
Speaker 1: as I'm recording this, it actually looks like the US

691
00:40:26,200 --> 00:40:28,759
Speaker 1: will be the next country to make a recommendation that

692
00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:32,839
Speaker 1: people shouldn't drink. Obviously, it's very harsh recommendation, but they

693
00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:35,719
Speaker 1: want to do what's safe. All of this sounds very,

694
00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:39,480
Speaker 1: very scary, but something to note that I found really fascinating.

695
00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:43,200
Speaker 1: Even the man who discovered the problem in those findings

696
00:40:43,200 --> 00:40:45,800
Speaker 1: who said, you know, to everyone, for you, his alcohol

697
00:40:45,840 --> 00:40:49,600
Speaker 1: isn't safe, we shouldn't tell people that he actually get this.

698
00:40:49,719 --> 00:40:52,520
Speaker 1: He still drinks and he is very open about the

699
00:40:52,520 --> 00:40:56,000
Speaker 1: fact that he loves a couple glasses of wine, and

700
00:40:56,280 --> 00:40:59,160
Speaker 1: I think that is the important thing. Moderation is important.

701
00:40:59,480 --> 00:41:02,239
Speaker 1: And it remind finds me of that quote, which basically says, like,

702
00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:04,880
Speaker 1: you know, yes, son gives you cancer. Ice cream is

703
00:41:04,920 --> 00:41:08,960
Speaker 1: bad for you, Spending your money ruins your savings. Wine

704
00:41:09,280 --> 00:41:11,800
Speaker 1: isn't the healthiest. It ruins your liver. But I'm gonna

705
00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:14,600
Speaker 1: do it anyway, I want to have fun. It's a

706
00:41:14,640 --> 00:41:17,240
Speaker 1: good good philosophy.

707
00:41:16,920 --> 00:41:18,040
Speaker 2: To have that.

708
00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:21,400
Speaker 1: Yes, anything can kill you, everything can be bad for you.

709
00:41:21,600 --> 00:41:25,120
Speaker 1: How terrible is that? But actually it's not, because life

710
00:41:25,160 --> 00:41:28,960
Speaker 1: is actually about sometimes indulging and having fun and enjoying

711
00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:32,560
Speaker 1: flavor and enjoying richness. And I think that if you

712
00:41:32,600 --> 00:41:36,839
Speaker 1: don't have a serious problem with alcohol abuse, maybe and

713
00:41:36,960 --> 00:41:41,200
Speaker 1: definitely why not enjoy what you enjoy. Enjoy the feeling,

714
00:41:41,239 --> 00:41:44,640
Speaker 1: the sensation, the friendships that you might feel like you

715
00:41:44,680 --> 00:41:47,400
Speaker 1: get from a glass of wine or a little apperol

716
00:41:47,480 --> 00:41:50,719
Speaker 1: sprits every now and again. Okay, we're going to take

717
00:41:50,960 --> 00:41:52,600
Speaker 1: a short break, but when we come back, I want

718
00:41:52,640 --> 00:41:55,799
Speaker 1: to talk about how sobriety impacted my social life, what

719
00:41:55,840 --> 00:41:58,160
Speaker 1: it was like to go out sober, and just like

720
00:41:58,239 --> 00:42:00,359
Speaker 1: some fast rapid fire tips I have if you want

721
00:42:00,360 --> 00:42:06,919
Speaker 1: to give it a go, I think a big fear

722
00:42:06,960 --> 00:42:10,880
Speaker 1: we have around trying dry jam, dry July, whatever it is,

723
00:42:10,920 --> 00:42:14,759
Speaker 1: going sober for a couple of months is social exclusion?

724
00:42:15,239 --> 00:42:17,279
Speaker 1: Am I going to be included? Are people gonna think

725
00:42:17,320 --> 00:42:19,720
Speaker 1: that I'm like a wet blanket, that I'm not fun?

726
00:42:20,120 --> 00:42:22,200
Speaker 1: Am I gonna be left out? Is it gonna be

727
00:42:22,440 --> 00:42:25,520
Speaker 1: less enjoyable to be the only sober one. That was

728
00:42:25,600 --> 00:42:28,520
Speaker 1: definitely a fear that I had in like just doing

729
00:42:28,560 --> 00:42:31,880
Speaker 1: thirty days of this, especially like it's summer in Australia,

730
00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:36,200
Speaker 1: like everyone wants to do a little vo beverages, so

731
00:42:36,400 --> 00:42:38,960
Speaker 1: like it definitely felt like I was gonna be missing out.

732
00:42:39,520 --> 00:42:42,560
Speaker 1: But something that I've really noticed is that my friends

733
00:42:42,560 --> 00:42:45,640
Speaker 1: are very very accepting. Now, if you have a friend

734
00:42:45,680 --> 00:42:48,399
Speaker 1: group that is pressuring you to drink, I don't think

735
00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:51,520
Speaker 1: those people are your friends. They're not your friends because

736
00:42:51,560 --> 00:42:54,040
Speaker 1: if they only feel like they can enjoy your company

737
00:42:54,520 --> 00:42:56,960
Speaker 1: with a glass or something, you know, a can of

738
00:42:57,000 --> 00:43:01,160
Speaker 1: something in their hand, like that's not off. Like I

739
00:43:01,200 --> 00:43:04,920
Speaker 1: don't know, I just feel like your relationships shouldn't be

740
00:43:04,920 --> 00:43:07,399
Speaker 1: elevated by drinking. They should be just as good when

741
00:43:07,440 --> 00:43:09,920
Speaker 1: you're sober as they are when you're tipsy, as they

742
00:43:09,960 --> 00:43:14,560
Speaker 1: are when you're drunk. And I went out sober the

743
00:43:14,640 --> 00:43:17,239
Speaker 1: other night, like it was a friend's birthday, farty, like

744
00:43:17,280 --> 00:43:20,440
Speaker 1: a really good friend and I went out and I

745
00:43:20,480 --> 00:43:22,560
Speaker 1: was like, Okay, I'm committing to this. I'm committing to this.

746
00:43:22,600 --> 00:43:24,800
Speaker 1: I'm gonna drive, I'm gonna drive me and my boyfriend

747
00:43:25,080 --> 00:43:27,960
Speaker 1: We're gonna meet like thirty of our friends and I'm

748
00:43:28,000 --> 00:43:30,560
Speaker 1: gonna like just chill on the diet Kochs for a

749
00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:32,799
Speaker 1: little while. The first hour.

750
00:43:32,880 --> 00:43:33,520
Speaker 2: This is what I learned.

751
00:43:33,600 --> 00:43:37,239
Speaker 1: The first hour was the worst. Just get that out

752
00:43:37,239 --> 00:43:39,760
Speaker 1: of the way. First hour was the worst because everyone

753
00:43:39,880 --> 00:43:42,120
Speaker 1: was kind of like getting into the vibe. Everyone was

754
00:43:42,200 --> 00:43:45,480
Speaker 1: kind of having a few drinks, like lightening up, and

755
00:43:45,719 --> 00:43:48,040
Speaker 1: it was very much like based around, like let's go

756
00:43:48,080 --> 00:43:50,799
Speaker 1: to the bar, like this drink tastes good, We're gonna

757
00:43:50,840 --> 00:43:53,799
Speaker 1: sit and sit. So I was a bit like, I

758
00:43:53,840 --> 00:43:55,479
Speaker 1: just feel like I'm missing out. You guys are all

759
00:43:55,560 --> 00:43:58,640
Speaker 1: like getting more cheerful, more cheerful, and I'm just feeling

760
00:43:58,680 --> 00:43:59,719
Speaker 1: like I'm left.

761
00:43:59,440 --> 00:44:01,840
Speaker 2: Out here myr own of course, with my own actions.

762
00:44:02,440 --> 00:44:05,400
Speaker 1: But then after the first hour was done, it was

763
00:44:05,480 --> 00:44:08,719
Speaker 1: so much fun. It was so much fun because I

764
00:44:08,800 --> 00:44:13,080
Speaker 1: was more present, because I wasn't sleepy, because I didn't

765
00:44:13,120 --> 00:44:15,240
Speaker 1: just sit in a corner and just chat to one person.

766
00:44:15,320 --> 00:44:18,080
Speaker 1: I was more like aware of who I wanted to

767
00:44:18,080 --> 00:44:20,160
Speaker 1: speak to, what I wanted to get out of the night.

768
00:44:20,760 --> 00:44:22,680
Speaker 1: I was able to like, I know this sounds weird,

769
00:44:22,680 --> 00:44:25,480
Speaker 1: but actually have some foresight to like organize things do

770
00:44:25,640 --> 00:44:28,000
Speaker 1: things like there was karaoke in the back of this bar,

771
00:44:28,160 --> 00:44:30,760
Speaker 1: and I was like, okay, like I'll take the initiative

772
00:44:30,760 --> 00:44:32,640
Speaker 1: and I'll book this because everyone else has kind of

773
00:44:32,719 --> 00:44:35,680
Speaker 1: like had a few drinks and is probably not thinking

774
00:44:35,680 --> 00:44:40,120
Speaker 1: about whether that's possible. Also, really really fun was driving

775
00:44:40,160 --> 00:44:44,560
Speaker 1: everyone home afterwards. Let me tell you this, I had

776
00:44:44,640 --> 00:44:48,040
Speaker 1: more fun being the designated driver and getting to drop

777
00:44:48,120 --> 00:44:50,719
Speaker 1: all of my drunk friends home than I have ever

778
00:44:50,800 --> 00:44:53,080
Speaker 1: had in a club. And I know that is a

779
00:44:53,160 --> 00:44:55,640
Speaker 1: huge statement, but it is a correct one. It is

780
00:44:55,680 --> 00:44:58,960
Speaker 1: an accurate one. I could not tell you the last

781
00:44:58,960 --> 00:45:01,279
Speaker 1: time I went clubbing and had a good time, Like

782
00:45:01,400 --> 00:45:04,040
Speaker 1: it's just not something that I think I like to do. Obviously,

783
00:45:04,080 --> 00:45:05,960
Speaker 1: when I was I actually probably could tell you, Like

784
00:45:06,000 --> 00:45:08,840
Speaker 1: when I was in my early twenties and like in

785
00:45:08,920 --> 00:45:10,680
Speaker 1: my teen years, it was like a great time. It

786
00:45:10,719 --> 00:45:13,759
Speaker 1: was part of like socializing at UNI. But since I've

787
00:45:13,840 --> 00:45:16,440
Speaker 1: kind of hit my mid twenties, like it's just not

788
00:45:16,520 --> 00:45:19,000
Speaker 1: my thing anymore. And I would always try and force

789
00:45:19,040 --> 00:45:21,160
Speaker 1: myself to really enjoy it and get something out of

790
00:45:21,200 --> 00:45:24,800
Speaker 1: it and make memories. That's the big reason why I

791
00:45:24,840 --> 00:45:28,399
Speaker 1: would go was for the memories. I made more fun

792
00:45:28,480 --> 00:45:32,160
Speaker 1: memories driving my friends home and going to McDonald's, and

793
00:45:32,160 --> 00:45:34,520
Speaker 1: they said the funniest stuff and it was like I

794
00:45:34,520 --> 00:45:37,680
Speaker 1: can remember the in jokes, I can remember what they

795
00:45:37,719 --> 00:45:40,680
Speaker 1: were saying, like the stories that were told. And then

796
00:45:40,719 --> 00:45:43,600
Speaker 1: the next morning, I was up by eight am. Like

797
00:45:43,640 --> 00:45:45,600
Speaker 1: obviously it was still a Sunday, I still had my

798
00:45:45,640 --> 00:45:47,960
Speaker 1: sleep in, but I was up by eight am. I

799
00:45:48,040 --> 00:45:50,919
Speaker 1: was refreshed, I felt amazing. I went for a five

800
00:45:51,040 --> 00:45:53,840
Speaker 1: k run and I just thought, wow, like I would

801
00:45:53,840 --> 00:45:57,319
Speaker 1: not have this energy if I had had four Gin

802
00:45:57,400 --> 00:45:59,919
Speaker 1: and Tonics last night, and I would have missed out

803
00:46:00,200 --> 00:46:03,879
Speaker 1: so much. And I also didn't get tired, so I

804
00:46:03,920 --> 00:46:05,879
Speaker 1: was able to stay out longer, which is a big

805
00:46:05,920 --> 00:46:08,359
Speaker 1: problem I sometimes have when I drink and go out,

806
00:46:08,360 --> 00:46:09,880
Speaker 1: like I have two red wines and I'm like, I

807
00:46:09,920 --> 00:46:12,799
Speaker 1: want to go to bed. But I really committed to

808
00:46:12,840 --> 00:46:16,080
Speaker 1: it and it was a great time. Some tips I

809
00:46:16,160 --> 00:46:19,960
Speaker 1: have for staying sober or trying out sobriety, and I

810
00:46:20,000 --> 00:46:23,920
Speaker 1: really would encourage you to just do thirty days. Have

811
00:46:24,120 --> 00:46:26,960
Speaker 1: like a non alcoholic drink that you like, soak and

812
00:46:27,000 --> 00:46:30,560
Speaker 1: Butcher Die Cooke lemonade, non alcoholic beer. A big fan

813
00:46:30,600 --> 00:46:33,920
Speaker 1: of non alcoholic beer, not so much non alcoholic red wine.

814
00:46:33,960 --> 00:46:35,320
Speaker 2: That stuff is discussing.

815
00:46:36,360 --> 00:46:38,560
Speaker 1: Have your drink that you enjoy that you can bring

816
00:46:38,600 --> 00:46:41,560
Speaker 1: to the party, you can order at the pub, you

817
00:46:41,560 --> 00:46:43,840
Speaker 1: can order at the bar. Like that really helps you

818
00:46:43,840 --> 00:46:47,359
Speaker 1: feel like you're still integrated into the experience. Tell your

819
00:46:47,400 --> 00:46:50,360
Speaker 1: friends that you are sober, and like open up a

820
00:46:50,400 --> 00:46:53,239
Speaker 1: discussion about it, so it's not like expected that you're

821
00:46:53,280 --> 00:46:56,160
Speaker 1: going to be drinking, and they can actually think through

822
00:46:56,160 --> 00:46:59,520
Speaker 1: their own drinking choices, and you can change plans based

823
00:46:59,560 --> 00:47:03,080
Speaker 1: on your choice for the evening. See if someone wants

824
00:47:03,120 --> 00:47:06,440
Speaker 1: to do it with you honestly, like one of my

825
00:47:06,480 --> 00:47:08,160
Speaker 1: friends is doing it at the same time. It's like

826
00:47:08,239 --> 00:47:11,840
Speaker 1: kind of fun to exchange stories and just kind of

827
00:47:11,840 --> 00:47:14,160
Speaker 1: have a bigger goal attached to why you want to

828
00:47:14,200 --> 00:47:16,000
Speaker 1: do it. So if you're just like I want to

829
00:47:16,040 --> 00:47:18,280
Speaker 1: go sober for thirty days, but you don't know why,

830
00:47:18,719 --> 00:47:20,600
Speaker 1: it's going to be a lot harder to achieve. So

831
00:47:21,160 --> 00:47:23,319
Speaker 1: mine was really like, this is a personal challenge. I

832
00:47:23,320 --> 00:47:25,759
Speaker 1: want to see if I'm capable. For other people, it's

833
00:47:25,760 --> 00:47:27,880
Speaker 1: like they're training for a marathon and they're training for

834
00:47:27,920 --> 00:47:30,600
Speaker 1: a big run. Maybe it's that you want to see

835
00:47:30,600 --> 00:47:33,600
Speaker 1: your skin improve. Whatever it is make sure that the

836
00:47:33,719 --> 00:47:36,560
Speaker 1: reason you're doing this is really really clear to you,

837
00:47:36,880 --> 00:47:41,560
Speaker 1: and honestly, good luck. If you have done it before. Please, Oh,

838
00:47:41,600 --> 00:47:43,680
Speaker 1: if you are someone who is currently sober and husband

839
00:47:43,680 --> 00:47:46,279
Speaker 1: for a while, what can we expect in a couple

840
00:47:46,320 --> 00:47:48,960
Speaker 1: of years? What can we expect in like six months,

841
00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:52,279
Speaker 1: two years, five years? Like I've heard that it gets

842
00:47:52,320 --> 00:47:55,480
Speaker 1: better and it changes, and that you feel even more

843
00:47:55,600 --> 00:47:58,440
Speaker 1: energy and more attuned to yourself after a while. And

844
00:47:58,520 --> 00:48:00,839
Speaker 1: also send over your best tips and I'll share them

845
00:48:00,840 --> 00:48:03,120
Speaker 1: on Instagram. But I think that's all we have for

846
00:48:03,160 --> 00:48:05,640
Speaker 1: today's episode. I know what's been a long one. So

847
00:48:05,640 --> 00:48:09,239
Speaker 1: if you've made it this far, hello, comment a little

848
00:48:09,239 --> 00:48:12,120
Speaker 1: wine emoji in the comments on Spotify and I'll go

849
00:48:12,200 --> 00:48:15,640
Speaker 1: through and see who's gotten here. But thank you so

850
00:48:15,760 --> 00:48:18,080
Speaker 1: much for listening. Make sure that, if you haven't already,

851
00:48:18,120 --> 00:48:20,680
Speaker 1: you listen to Mantra. If you like the psychology of

852
00:48:20,719 --> 00:48:24,440
Speaker 1: your twenties and you like the kind of positive, calm

853
00:48:24,560 --> 00:48:28,600
Speaker 1: environment we're creating here, you want some inspiration, Mantra is

854
00:48:28,640 --> 00:48:29,239
Speaker 1: probably going to.

855
00:48:29,239 --> 00:48:30,920
Speaker 2: Be exactly what you're looking for.

856
00:48:31,120 --> 00:48:34,640
Speaker 1: So you can find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts just

857
00:48:34,680 --> 00:48:39,080
Speaker 1: by searching Mantra with Jemma speG Also, we are open

858
00:48:39,120 --> 00:48:42,560
Speaker 1: to episode suggestions for this podcast at the moment. If

859
00:48:42,560 --> 00:48:44,440
Speaker 1: there is something about your twenties you want me to

860
00:48:44,480 --> 00:48:46,280
Speaker 1: explore the psychology.

861
00:48:45,680 --> 00:48:48,839
Speaker 2: Behind, send it through. I would love to hear from you.

862
00:48:48,920 --> 00:48:51,239
Speaker 1: Make sure you are following along, make sure that you

863
00:48:51,280 --> 00:48:53,359
Speaker 1: have left a five star review please and thank you

864
00:48:53,760 --> 00:48:57,120
Speaker 1: if you feel cold to do so. And until next time,

865
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Speaker 1: stay safe, stay kind, be gentle with yourself, and we

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Speaker 1: will talk very very soon.