Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober · Gillian Tietz, MS, CPRC

E313: The Nervous System in Sobriety: Why You Feel Wired, Exhausted, or Overwhelmed, and How Regulation Returns

·21 min·1 clip

Alcohol feels relaxing, but physiologically it activates stress hormones and pushes your nervous system into a stressed-out state.

This episode explores why sobriety can initially feel more intense and dysregulating than expected, explaining how alcohol disrupts the nervous system by activating stress responses and suppressing recovery. It details the autonomic nervous system's role, the impact on sleep, and how recovery involves retraining the brain to handle discomfort without alcohol, emphasizing flexibility and co-regulation.

As heard by us

A clear account of why sobriety can feel harder before it feels steadier.

Sober Powered takes on the rough middle stretch of sobriety, when quitting drinking has not yet settled into calm and the body still seems stuck bracing for impact.

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Why you'd press play

If sobriety has you wired at 3 a.m., this helps explain why.

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