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E86: Why Helping Others Helps You Stay Sober
02/11/22 • 16 min
Gill discusses how helping others helps us. You’ll learn about some studies on helping others, what a helper’s high is, and what oxytocin is. She explains some studies that looked at people in recovery helping others and how that impacts their own sobriety, why we are drawn to personal stories of recovery, and give you some ideas on how you can start helping others if you don’t want to do it publicly. She also describes the difference between helping others purely because you feel the drive to, versus helping others with the intention of money, followers, or fame.
What to listen to next:
E79: Why We Romanticize Alcohol
Meetings:
https://aa-intergroup.org/
https://www.smartrecovery.org/community/calendar.php
https://recoverydharma.org/meeting-list
https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
Find a Therapist in the US:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists
Treatment:
https://www.banyantreatmentcenter.com/
https://sobernation.com/rehabs/
Resources I offer:
- Membership: Living a Sober Powered Life. https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
- Weekly emails on Thursdays where I explain the latest episode in more detail, share images to help you understand the concepts, share announcements, interviews, writing, discount codes and more. https://view.flodesk.com/pages/6107260617e156c4839768b5
- Free resources https://www.soberpowered.com/free
Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors. Learn more:
https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors
If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support my work https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered
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
Gill discusses how helping others helps us. You’ll learn about some studies on helping others, what a helper’s high is, and what oxytocin is. She explains some studies that looked at people in recovery helping others and how that impacts their own sobriety, why we are drawn to personal stories of recovery, and give you some ideas on how you can start helping others if you don’t want to do it publicly. She also describes the difference between helping others purely because you feel the drive to, versus helping others with the intention of money, followers, or fame.
What to listen to next:
E79: Why We Romanticize Alcohol
Meetings:
https://aa-intergroup.org/
https://www.smartrecovery.org/community/calendar.php
https://recoverydharma.org/meeting-list
https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
Find a Therapist in the US:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists
Treatment:
https://www.banyantreatmentcenter.com/
https://sobernation.com/rehabs/
Resources I offer:
- Membership: Living a Sober Powered Life. https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
- Weekly emails on Thursdays where I explain the latest episode in more detail, share images to help you understand the concepts, share announcements, interviews, writing, discount codes and more. https://view.flodesk.com/pages/6107260617e156c4839768b5
- Free resources https://www.soberpowered.com/free
Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors. Learn more:
https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors
If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support my work https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered
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
Previous Episode

E85: Biased Alcohol Studies vs Reality
Recently, wine spectator shared an article on Instagram about how moderate, daily wine drinking helped you not get covid. Most people see that post and think, “great, I knew I was doing something right!” and very few people actually go read the article. In this episode, Gill discusses science funded by the alcohol industry, how that ends up influencing the results, and how you can know the difference between biased, exaggerated claims and the truth. She walks you through a few different studies that support how alcohol is healthy, shows you the holes in these studies, and what the truth is. By the end of the episode you'll be able to spot biased science and you'll learn a bit more about how pervasive the alcohol industry is in scientific research today.
Wine Spectator Study
https://www.winespectator.com/articles/new-study-suggests-red-wine-reduces-covid-infection-rates
What to listen to next:
E79: Why We Romanticize Alcohol
E76: Learning the Truth About Your Drinking with Dr. Anna Lembke, Author of Dopamine Nation
Resources I offer:
- Membership: Living a Sober Powered Life. https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
- Weekly emails on Thursdays where I explain the latest episode in more detail, share images to help you understand the concepts, share announcements, interviews, writing, discount codes and more. https://view.flodesk.com/pages/6107260617e156c4839768b5
- Free resources https://www.soberpowered.com/free
Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors. Learn more:
https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors
If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support my work https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered
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
Next Episode

E87: Why Shame Increases Loss of Control Over Alcohol and How to Manage Shame
Gill discusses shame. We talked about shame way back in episode 7 and learned that there is a clear link between experiencing shame and relapsing. In this episode you’ll learn about the difference between people who are guilt-prone and those who are shame-prone and how that impacts their drinking. She has so many interesting studies to share about the link between shame, loss of control over drinking and developing a problem, and some studies that may explain why some of us are prone to feeling shame instead of guilt. You will also hear the story of Gill's first drink and some insight on how to potentially manage shame in the future.
What to listen to next:
E54: Neuroplasticity and Using Alcohol to Escape or Numb Out
E19: Alcohol Use Disorder and Other Mental Health Conditions
E60: How Alcohol Affects Our Cognitive Abilities
Emotional Sobriety ebook
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered/e/48675
Resources I offer:
- Membership: Living a Sober Powered Life. https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
- Weekly emails on Thursdays where I explain the latest episode in more detail, share images to help you understand the concepts, share announcements, interviews, writing, discount codes and more. https://view.flodesk.com/pages/6107260617e156c4839768b5
- Free resources https://www.soberpowered.com/free
Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors. Learn more:
https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors
If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support my work https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered
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
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