{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Spicy Brain","title":"Millie Gooch: ALCOHOL & THE NEURODIVERGENT BRAIN | Hangxiety, Addiction & Going Sober","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":5384,"description":"In this episode of Spicy Brain, host Lara Sullivan is joined by Millie Gooch, founder of Sober Girl Society and author of Hangxiety: How Alcohol Messes with Your Mind, for an honest conversation about alcohol and the neurodivergent brain.\nMillie started drinking at university, where alcohol became the thing that switched off her brain, gave her confidence and helped her feel “normal”. Years of blackouts and days-long hangovers later, she went sober at 26. It took another seven years and a psychiatric assessment for her book to find out she is autistic and ADHD. Looking back, so much of it suddenly made sense.\nThe episode explores:\n🌶️ Why alcohol can feel like a shortcut to a neurotypical brain\n🌶️ What actually happens in your brain when you drink, and the next day\n🌶️ Hangxiety, rumination and why hangovers hit neurodivergent people harder\n🌶️ Blackouts, memory and “drunk words are sober thoughts”\n🌶️ ADHD, impulsivity and why stopping at two drinks is so hard\n🌶️ The “addictive personality” myth and why neurodivergent people are overrepresented in addiction settings\n🌶️ The alcohol industry, “drink responsibly” and what other countries do differently\n🌶️ Sobriety vs self-optimisation culture\n🌶️ Practical first steps if you want to change your relationship with alcohol\nWhether you’ve already stopped, are thinking about cutting back, or have never understood why alcohol hits you so hard, this is a judgement-free look at how your drinking might be connected to your neurodivergence.\nTune in for a conversation full of science, lived experience and a lot of nodding along.\nTimestamps\n00:00:00 Introducing Millie Gooch\n00:02:00 Starting to Drink at University\n00:03:47 Realising She Didn’t Drink Like Everyone Else\n00:09:29 Going Sober at 26: The Final Hangover\n00:16:13 Early Sobriety, Panic Attacks and Therapy\n00:20:52 What Alcohol Does to Your Brain\n00:25:40 Can Your Brain Recover? Addiction on a Spectrum\n00:30:52 Hangxiety and Why Hangovers Hit Neurodivergent People Harder...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/FqVo1ZyaIJlqKnwK3ztPTNicKUAgNLZ8P3d-lph6Td8/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8yMWMz/OGVkZTMyNjRiYWFm/ZjhmNTAzYjg0MDdj/MzM5Yi5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}