Running On Autopilot Mode (E269)

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Regular drinking and early sobriety often feel like living on autopilot, where we are repeating the same routines without conscious awareness. Alcohol changes the brain to increase mindless activity, which can lead to rumination, excessive self-focus, anxiety, and addiction-related thought loops. In this episode, you’ll learn about how alcohol affects the brain and puts us on autopilot, how this keeps us stuck, and when this recovers in sobriety. Many people mistake life stress as the main source of overwhelm, but a lot of it actually comes from how alcohol disrupts brain function. 

What to listen to next:

E220: The Hippocampus and Alcohol: Blackouts, Memory Deficits, and Learned Associations

E191: Going Back and Forth Makes Your Cravings Stronger

E238: Why Moderation Doesn't Work

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Cite:

Gillian Tietz. Running on Autopilot Mode (E269). Sober Powered. 2025

Please respect my intellectual property and properly credit me if you share my work.

Sources

1. Zhang, R., Volkow, N. Brain default-mode network dysfunction in addiction. NeuroImage. 2019

2. Müller-oehring EM, Jung YC, Pfefferbaum A, et al. The resting brain of alcoholics. Cerebr Cortex. 2015

3. Sarah Gerhardt, Damian Karl, Karl Mann, Falk Kiefer, Sabine Vollstädt-Klein, Association Between Functional and Structural Brain Connectivity of the Default Mode Network in Non-treatment Seeking Individuals With Alcohol Use Disorder, Alcohol and Alcoholism, 2022

4. Sandra Chanraud, Anne-Lise Pitel, Adolf Pfefferbaum, Edith V. Sullivan, Disruption of Functional Connectivity of the Default-Mode Network in Alcoholism, Cerebral Cortex, 2011

5. Moustafa AA. On and Off switches in the brain. Front Behav Neurosci. 2015