Tribe Sober's Top Twelve Podcasts!

 

This week we’re celebrating our 200th podcast episode by taking you through our Top Twelve podcasts – the episodes which have had the most downloads since we started the podcast back in 2020 

There's a clip from each podcast as well as the link to the whole episode

Or if you’re really organised you can even make them into a playlist!

Numbers 10,11 & 12

So coming in with 2,200 downloads each is a trio of ladies who’ve taught our Tribe so much about how our brains work…

Author Dr Loretta Breuning, Neuroscientist Staci Danford and Stanford Psychiatrist Dr Anne Lembke

It’s important to remember that we are wired for survival rather than happiness and our default state is one of anxiety as we are on the look out for threats..

However once we understand how to trigger our happy brain chemicals we can structure our days to ensure that we get a regular dopamine hit to lift our mood

So let’s start with Dr Loretta Breuning who helped me unpack the cause of my own “early sobriety blues”

Have a listen to the first interview I did with her which was in August 2021 

Loretta also did an interview with me very recently to talk about her new book which is called Why Youre Unhappy – that came out on January 20th this year.

The next lady in our trio is neuroscientist

Staci Danford who taught us about our Lizard brain and how we need to manage it… she even recommended we give it a name.. she calls hers Ernie!

That interview came out in August 2021 

Here is a link to that episode 

The third of our trio is Stanford Psychiatrist Anna Lembke who’s written a top selling book called Dopamine Nation

It’s an awesome book which I highly recommend if you are interested in the science of addiction – her explanation of the Pain/Pleasure balance is superb

That episode is called Why we get Addicted and came out in November 2023 

Here is the link 

Moving away from neuroscience to number 9 in our Top Twelve

In that spot we have Sobriety Coach Lori Massicot – Lori is the host of a podcast called 50 and beyond and like me is convinced that ditching the booze is one of the very best things we can do for ourselves as we get older

Her episode is called Why we need to ditch the drink in mid life and came out in December 2021

Here is the link 

I also did a fun episode with Lori recently when we listed the 15 Signs that you need to take a Break from Booze – signs that Lori and I ignored for far too long!

That one was released on January 27th this year

Next up we have Melissa Witherspoon – she’s the author of a touching memoir called

I’m Sober…So Now What?

Melissa has relapsed several times and has some invaluable insights into the various stages of relapse

• She observed that there are 3 stages of relapse
• Stage 1 is emotional relapse – not even thinking about drinking yet but observing the triggers that seem to be getting more frequent
• Stay in Stage 1 long enough without taking action and you may move to
• Stage 2 which is the mental relapse when you start to feel uncomfortable in your skin – and skip activities like connecting with your sober tribe and sticking to your exercise routine – all things that relieve triggers
• Stay in Stage 2 long enough and you may move to
• Stage 3 which is physical relapse when you are back in active addiction
• The advantage of knowing about these 3 stages are that you can keep your radar sharp for Relapse Warning Signs – all different for different people but you need to be able to pick up if you are feeling a bit “off” as Melissa puts it – keeping a journal is a great way of monitoring your emotions
• For Melissa it shows up in a lack of self care – if she starts neglecting things like her hair washing routine she will see it as a warning sign and tune in to what’s going on..

Learn more from Melissa by listening to the episode which came out on September 2022 and is called Relapse Warning Signs

Here is the link 

So from the three stages of relapse we go to the 4 stages of alcoholism – a very moving share from Tribe member Vanessa Hilton Barber

• Vanessa divides her drinking career into phases:- the Fun phase (15-19) the Social phase (19-30) the Fairly Desperate phase (30-39)
• the I Need to Quit phase (39 onwards)
• This pattern fits pretty well with Ken Middletons theory that 20 years of regular drinking will result in alcohol dependence

Here’s