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Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober

E282: Minimizing, Rationalizing, and the Myth of “I Wasn’t That Bad”

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober

Gillian Tietz, MS, CPRC

Science, Self-improvement, Education, Health & Fitness, Mental Health

4.91.2K Ratings

🗓️ 30 May 2025

⏱️ 17 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Maybe your drinking isn’t/wasn’t that bad, but does that mean it’s good? If you don’t truly face what you’re doing, then how can you expect to change and move forward? In this episode, we dig into the psychological tricks we use to protect ourselves from the truth about our drinking- minimizing, rationalizing, and rewriting the past. I explain how cognitive dissonance, memory decay, and emotional self-protection keep us stuck in the cycle, and why excusing our behavior prevents real change. You'll learn what happens in the brain when we reframe harmful moments as one time occurrences, and how that keeps us from learning, growing, or getting sober for good. What to listen to next: E164: how taking breaks help me quit drinking for good Work with me: Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching  Weekly email: You’ll hear from me on Fridays https://www.soberpowered.com/email Free resources https://www.soberpowered.com/free Courses: The non-negotiable mindset https://www.soberpowered.com/mindset-course Anger Management  https://www.soberpowered.com/anger Support the show: If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support all the research and effort that goes into this podcast https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors Sources are posted on my website Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Maybe your drinking isn't or wasn't that bad, but does that mean it's good?

0:06.5

If you don't truly face what you're doing, then how can you expect to change and move forward?

0:13.0

In this episode, I'm digging into the psychological tricks that we use to protect ourselves from the truth about our drinking, minimizing,

0:22.8

rationalizing, and rewriting the past. I explain how cognitive dissonance, memory decay, and emotional

0:30.1

self-protection keep us stuck in the cycle, and why excusing our behavior prevents real change.

0:37.9

You'll learn what happens in the brain when we reframe harmful moments as one-time occurrences

0:43.6

and how that keeps us stuck from learning, growing, or getting sober for good.

0:48.9

And before we dig in, I'd like to take a moment to thank my sponsors who made this episode possible.

0:56.4

Barclay's ready-made investments.

0:58.4

The clue's in the name.

0:59.7

Not Barclays, where do I begin investments?

1:02.2

You can start from 50 pounds.

1:04.1

That's why they're not difficult to get started investments either.

1:07.3

And you can choose your risk level.

1:08.9

So they're hardly in at the deep end investments.

1:11.5

So, if you've got savings and you want to help grow your money over five years or more,

1:15.9

then search Barclays' ready-made investments. Make money work for you. Investing is not for everyone.

1:20.8

The value of investments can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you invest. T's and C's apply.

1:36.9

Thank you. less than you invest, T's and Cs apply. Probably the most important part of romanticizing alcohol is all the tricks that we play on ourselves, minimizing, rationalizing,

1:46.8

and making excuses. Cognitive bias is an error in thinking that occurs when we're processing

1:53.4

and interpreting information in the world, and it affects the decisions and judgments that we make.

1:59.5

The brain is always trying to simplify things,

...

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