Episode 259: When Your Mind Makes a Bad Day Worse

Have you ever noticed that once you feel annoyed, stressed or anxious, your mind starts finding even more reasons to feel that way?

A difficult moment becomes a bad morning. Then, before you know it, your mind has created an entire story about what might happen next.

In this episode of The Alcohol ReThink Podcast, Patrick shares the story of a wet school run, four dog poos and a full-blown argument with an environmental officer who didn’t actually exist.

Although the situation was imaginary, the anger and outrage he experienced felt completely real.

This leads Patrick to explore the idea of your emotional home, the feelings and emotional states you return to so regularly that they begin to feel like part of who you are.

He explains how your existing mood can influence the thoughts your mind produces, what you notice and how you interpret what is happening around you. Rather than simply reporting the day, your mind can begin creating stories that match how you already feel.

Patrick also explores how these familiar emotional patterns can contribute to alcohol cravings. You may believe you want a drink because of what happened during the day, when you are really trying to escape the emotional story your mind has constructed around it.

Changing your relationship with alcohol is not only about removing the drink. It also involves understanding the emotions, thoughts and patterns that made alcohol feel necessary in the first place.

Awesome things you’ll hear about

• The imaginary argument that revealed what Patrick’s mind was doing

• What an emotional home is and how yours may have developed

• Why familiar emotions are not necessarily helpful emotions

• How your mood influences the thoughts and stories your mind creates

• Why an imaginary situation can produce a genuine emotional reaction

• The connection between stress, emotional patterns and alcohol cravings

• Why alcohol provides temporary relief without changing the underlying pattern

• How to notice an emotional spiral without judging or suppressing what you feel

• Questions to help you identify your own emotional home

Ready to change your relationship with alcohol?

DISRUPT is Patrick’s signature group coaching programme for men who want more than another attempt at controlling their drinking.

Inside DISRUPT, you’ll learn to understand the thoughts, emotions and patterns that have been fuelling your drinking, interrupt the habits that keep pulling you back and build the ability to handle stress, pressure and discomfort without needing alcohol to change how you feel.

The goal is not to spend the rest of your life trying not to drink. It is to understand yourself so much better that alcohol no longer feels like the answer.

Find out more and apply for DISRUPT here