How Problem Drinking Develops and Escalates (E300)
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How do you know if you’re someone who needs to get sober for good or if you’re just going through a phase? In this episode, I’ll share about how my drinking progressed over the years and a lot of research about how drinking motives differ in problem drinkers vs take it or leave it drinkers, how being sober curious progresses problematic drinking, and how putting your brain through multiple cycles of withdrawal makes it more difficult to get out of the cycle.
What to listen to next:
E267: resources vs support: are you setting yourself up for success?
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Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice.
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Sources:
Muller, C. et al. Sex-dependent alcohol instrumentation goals in non-addicted alcohol consumers versus patients with alcohol use disorder: longitudinal change and outcome prediction. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. 45:3. 2021.
Muller CP, Kornhuber J (2017) Biological evidence for paradoxical improve- € ment of psychiatric disorder symptoms by addictive drugs. Trends Pharmacol Sci 38:501–502.
Kuntsche, S. Drinking to cope mediates the link between work-family conflict and alcohol use among mothers but not fathers of preschool children. Addictive Behaviors. 112:106665. 2021.
M.L. Cooper. Motivations for alcohol use among adolescents: Development and validation of a four-factor model. Psychological Assessment, 6 (2) (1994), pp. 117-128
Salinas et al. Long-term alcohol consumption alters dorsal striatal dopamine release and regulation by D2 dopamine receptors in rhesus macaques. 2021. Neuropsychopharmacology.
Sabine Loeber, Theodora Duka, Helga Welzel Márquez, Helmut Nakovics, Andreas Heinz, Karl Mann, Herta Flor, Effects of Repeated Withdrawal from Alcohol on Recovery of Cognitive Impairment under Abstinence and Rate of Relapse, Alcohol and Alcoholism, Volume 45, Issue 6, November-December 2010, Pages 541–547,
Loeber S, Duka T, Welzel H, et al. Impairment of cognitive abilities and decision making after chronic use of alcohol: the impact of multiple detoxifications, Alcohol Alcohol, 2009a, vol. 44 (pg. 372-81)
Cite:
Gillian Tietz. How Problem Drinking Develops and Escalates (E300). Sober Powered. 2025
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