E292: Why One Drink is Never Enough

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober

Gillian Tietz, MS, CPRC

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

4.9 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 22 August 2025

⏱️ 18 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Have you ever promised yourself you’d only have one drink? Maybe it was at dinner, or after work—you told yourself, “Just one, that’s it.” But once that drink was gone, something shifted. Instead of feeling satisfied, you found yourself wanting another. And another. It can feel frustrating, even confusing. What’s wrong with me? Why can other people leave some alcohol behind in their glass and I can’t fathom it? This is one of the most common struggles people face when trying to moderate. And it’s not about willpower, discipline, or wanting it badly enough. It’s about how alcohol interacts with the brain. For some people, that first drink doesn’t close the craving loop—it opens it. In this episode, we’re going to talk about why that happens: how alcohol changes the brain’s reward system, why some people are more vulnerable than others, and why “just one” isn’t harmless if your brain is wired a certain way. By the end, you’ll understand why satisfaction never comes from moderation—and why that’s not your fault. What to listen to next: E265: rewiring the reward system E204: why not everyone develops a problem 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 Don’t try harder, try different https://www.soberpowered.com/willpower 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

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0:00.0	Have you ever promised yourself you'd only have one drink? Maybe it was at dinner or after work,
0:06.5	and you told yourself just one, that's it. But once that drink was gone, something shifted.
0:12.9	Instead of feeling satisfied, you found yourself wanting more. It can feel frustrating and confusing
0:19.4	to be in this situation.
0:21.4	We think, what's wrong with me?
0:23.1	Why can other people leave some alcohol behind in their glass?
0:26.6	And I can't even fathom doing that.
0:29.0	This is one of the most common struggles that people face when they try to moderate.
0:34.0	And it's not about willpower, discipline, or wanting it badly enough either.
0:38.3	It's about how alcohol interacts with the brain.
0:42.3	And for some people, that first drink doesn't close the craving loop, it opens it.
0:48.3	In this episode, we're going to talk about why that happens.
0:52.3	How alcohol changes the brain's reward system,
0:56.1	why some people are more vulnerable than others, and why just one drink isn't harmless if your
1:02.8	brain is wired in a certain way. By the end, you'll understand why satisfaction never comes
1:09.0	from moderation and why that's not your fault and before we dig in
1:12.9	i like to take a moment to thank my sponsors who made this episode possible when i quit drinking i didn't
1:19.7	have the mental bandwidth to keep my house clean on top of trying to learn how to function like a
1:25.2	normal person and feel my emotions.
1:27.8	So I had all this shame build up for years about the state of my house.
1:32.4	When we moved two years ago, I used it as a fresh start to keep my new house clean,
1:36.8	and I've done that with the help of house cleaners.
	...

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