Gill discusses brain networks that make us more vulnerable to developing an addiction. Childhood trauma, family history of addiction, and growing up with a parent who struggles with substances greatly increase your risk of developing your issues with addiction. We know this, but sometimes if you look at families there is one sibling who makes it out fine and the other comes out with a ton of hardship and mental health challenges. Why is that though? Is one sibling strong and the other is weak? In this episode she explores why some siblings do not develop addiction despite having the same home life and childhood trauma as the sibling who eventually develops a problem. She uses herself and her brother as a case study for this episode because her brother is just a regular guy. She has a few studies to share about the brains of siblings and non addicted healthy controls with no family history, and some more information on resilience.

What to listen to next:
E71: Trauma May Make Drugs and Alcohol Feel More Pleasurable
E74: Resilience Impacts How Much You Drink
E32: A Conversation with my Husband
E46: Neuroplasticity Helps us Recover

Resources I offer:

Free courses on YouTube. Each month is a new topic and videos are released every Tuesday at 12 pm EST. I will also be going live on the last Tuesday of each month at 12 pm EST on my YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeSyBTEFmsP49h2q_mxqMOw


Membership: Living a Sober Powered Life where I release episodes that help you navigate specific situations without alcohol (getting past day 3, dealing with shame, answering the question “why aren’t you drinking?”, and more) and there is an option to have monthly hang out zoom calls with me. https://soberpowered.supercast.com/


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


A free 3 day quit drinking challenge https://view.flodesk.com/pages/62f2cb3de5ea6b3d8aea4ab2



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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.
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