The High Performance Podcast How Giving Up Alcohol Transformed Everything, with Dr Alex George
8 snips
Jan 9, 2026 
Dr. Alex George, an A&E doctor and youth mental health advocate, shares his transformative journey after giving up alcohol. He discusses how fleeting happiness is often prioritized over deeper emotions like sadness and grief. Alex opens up about his brother's suicide and his own struggles with alcohol, highlighting the importance of facing emotions and seeking therapy. He offers practical advice for rethinking alcohol consumption, especially for those feeling stuck, and emphasizes the need for societal changes around drinking culture.
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Sobriety As The Turning Point
- Alex George calls stopping drinking the single best decision he's ever made and says everything that followed flowed from that choice.
- He frames sobriety as the catalyst for broad life transformation rather than a single isolated change.
Happiness Is One Emotion Among Many
- Alex argues happiness is overvalued and other emotions like sadness and anger have essential purposes.
- He suggests the goal is not constant happiness but applying the right emotion at the right time.
Hairdresser Moment Of Reckoning
- Alex describes the hairdresser moment after his brother's suicide as a rock-bottom realisation that he was lost and needed to change immediately.
- He links that moment directly to his choice to stop drinking and rebuild his life step by step.