Why Alcohol Feels Like the Price of Belonging

Most people think they drink because they enjoy alcohol.

In this episode, we look at something far harder to admit.

That for many people, alcohol isn’t about taste, confidence, or relaxation at all — it’s about belonging.

Not being rejected.

Not being excluded.

Just… not being slightly outside the group.

This episode explores the one “value” of drinking that people struggle to let go of, and why it sits at the heart of so many failed attempts to stop.

 

What This Episode Focuses On

 

• Why “belonging” is the one reason people can’t cross off their value list

• How alcohol quietly becomes a social contract rather than a drink

• The fear of breaking your role in a group or relationship

• Why exposure isn’t just about settling your nervous system

• The moment you realise that without alcohol, the ritual itself stops working

• Why some relationships drift when alcohol leaves — and why that matters

• How predictability gets mistaken for connection

• The deeper fear underneath tribe: “If I don’t do this anymore, who am I — and where do I belong?”

 

If this episode hit close to home, don’t rush to change anything.

Just notice where alcohol has been doing the job of belonging for you.

That awareness alone changes more than most people realise.

 

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