Why Your Brain Makes Drinking Look Better Than It Was (E281)
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When the sun comes out, so do the memories of “fun” drinking days, but are those memories even accurate? In this episode, I break down how your brain edits the past to make alcohol look better than it really was. I’ll explain how dopamine, emotional memory, and the fading affect bias distort your perception of your drinking life, and why the “good times” are often more fantasy than fact. You’ll learn how to interrupt the craving cycle before it starts and I’ll share a personal story about my own distorted alcohol memories around drinking on vacation. If you’ve been feeling nostalgic for a version of drinking that never really existed, this episode will help you ground yourself in the truth.
What to listen to next:
E220: The Hippocampus and Alcohol: Blackouts, Memory Deficits, and Learned Associations
E269: Autopilot mode
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Listen here. The episode will automatically load in your preferred podcast listening app.
Cite:
Gillian Tietz. Why Your Brain Makes Drinking Look Better Than It Was (E281). Sober Powered. 2025
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