Many moms find themselves turning to alcohol as a way to cope with the stresses of parenting and daily life. While an occasional drink may seem harmless, it can quickly turn into an unhealthy habit.
One reason alcohol feels so rewarding is its effects on dopamine levels in the brain.
What is Dopamine?
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter and chemical messenger in the brain. It plays a central role in the brain’s reward and pleasure centers. Dopamine is released when we engage in activities that feel good or have the potential to benefit us. This includes eating, having sex, accomplishing goals, and taking addictive drugs. The dopamine surge we experience from these activities motivates us to repeat them.
While dopamine itself does not trigger pleasure, it motivates us to seek out pleasurable experiences. It is a key part of the brain’s reward circuitry.
How Alcohol Impacts Dopamine
Understanding how alcohol impacts dopamine can help moms make informed choices about their drinking and take steps towards sobriety. When alcohol enters the bloodstream, it triggers an artificially high release of dopamine in an area of the brain called the nucleus accumbens. This area is a key part of the brain’s reward system. The dopamine release happens within minutes of drinking and increases with the amount consumed. This rapid dopamine surge is one reason drinking alcohol feels rewarding. It creates feelings of pleasure, satisfaction, and relaxation.
Over time, regular alcohol use can cause changes in the brain’s dopamine system. The brain attempts to compensate for the artificial dopamine boost from alcohol by reducing its own natural dopamine production. As a result, people who drink may experience a “dopamine deficiency” when they are not drinking. This can cause symptoms like depression, fatigue, insomnia, and lack of motivation.
Read that again. When we drink on a regular basis, our body produces less dopamine so we feel worse overall. Our brain becomes hard-wired to crave alcohol to get the dopamine it so badly needs. This is how we become emotionally dependent upon alcohol. It’s not you, it’s alcohol and how it works in your body.
Additionally, the brain’s reward circuitry becomes less sensitive with repeated alcohol exposure. More alcohol is required to achieve the same dopamine reward. This tolerance is what drives people to consume larger amounts in order to feel good. These changes to the dopamine system are a key mechanism underlying alcohol addiction.
Dopamine and Alcohol Cravings
The dopamine rush caused by drinking alcohol can trigger powerful cravings for more alcohol. Memories of the pleasurable dopamine release become associated with drinking behaviors and environments where alcohol is consumed. These drinking-related cues can provoke cravings long after alcohol leaves the system.
Seeing a wine bottle, entering a bar, or being around drinking friends are examples of cues that can trigger alcohol cravings. These cravings are the result of dopamine flooding the reward system in anticipation of alcohol consumption. Even when someone desires to cut back or quit drinking, dopamine-driven cravings can sabotage their efforts to reduce alcohol intake. This helps explain how we become emotionally dependent upon alcohol.
Restoring Dopamine Balance in Sobriety
While drinking provides a short-term dopamine lift, the negative consequences for motherhood are simply not worth it. Getting support for sobriety and full freedom from alcohol allows moms to restore their health, be fully present for their kids, and find natural joy in parenting.
The good news is the brain can recover and restore its natural dopamine balance when alcohol use stops. But this healing process takes time. A mother aiming for alcohol freedom may initially struggle with dopamine deficiency symptoms like joylessness, fatigue, anxiety, and lack of motivation. This can tempt her to return to drinking to artificially boost dopamine levels again.
Being patient and allowing the brain time to normalize its dopamine production is crucial. Nutrition, sleep, exercise, and healthy social support are essential for full dopamine restoration. With time and self-care, moms can regain normal dopamine function and experience natural pleasure and motivation again.
To help speed the healing process, it’s important to find alternative pleasurable activities that release dopamine naturally. Exercising, spending time with family, engaging in hobbies, achieving goals, and other rewarding behaviors can all help restore dopamine balance.
Benefits of Ditching Alcohol for Moms (There are seriously so many.)
Making the decision to drink less or not at all is life-changing for mothers. It was for me!
Here are some of the biggest benefits of sobriety:
- More energy, mental clarity, and patience for handling the demands of parenting
- Improved emotional and physical availability for family members
- Increased self-esteem and modeling of healthy behaviors for kids
- More money for family activities, healthier food, mental and physical health supports
- Repairing relationships damaged by drinking behaviors
- Finding joy and stress relief in healthy activities
- Breaking the cycle of alcohol use and providing stability for kids
- Experiencing motherhood fully, without numbing effects of alcohol
The rewards of alcohol freedom are immense for both moms and their children. With the right education, support system and alcohol use prevention strategies, ditching alcohol for good is within reach for mothers. The process begins by taking the first step.
Alcohol Freedom: Next Steps for Moms
Deciding to change your relationship with alcohol is a brave choice, but it can feel overwhelming. Remember that many other moms have walked this path before you. This is a journey, but you don’t have to take it alone. With the right mindset and support, the future is bright for moms embracing sobriety. Your health and happiness, and that of your kids, is worth the temporary discomfort as our body resets itself as it detoxes from alcohol and restores its natural balance.
I’m here for you. ~ Julie
About Julie Lively Coaching | Sobriety Coaching for Moms
Julie Lively is a dedicated alcohol free lifestyle and sobriety coach and the proud owner of Julie Lively Coaching. With her passion for helping moms overcome the emotional dependence of alcohol, and fully embrace a sober life, Julie has become a trusted guide and source of support for those on their alcohol freedom journey.
Through her personalized coaching approach, Julie empowers her clients to navigate the challenges of sobriety, develop healthy coping mechanisms, and build a fulfilling life free from the grips of emotional dependence on alcohol.
With her compassionate and non-judgmental demeanor, Julie creates a safe space for her clients to explore their emotions, uncover underlying issues, and establish strategies for long-term sobriety. Julie Lively is committed to making a positive impact in the lives of those seeking alcohol freedom, providing them with the tools and guidance they need to thrive in their alcohol free lifestyle goals.
Journal Study Selections on the Alcohol Dopamine Connection:
Alcohol and Dopamine Gaetano Di Chiara, M.D.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6826820
The Dopamine System and Alcohol Dependence Hui MA1,2,* and Gang ZHU2,*