Substances

Substances: Jen and Sarah discuss how risky substances affect the body and how bad habits

affect your health.

Episode Outline/Takeaways

• In short, risky substances (tobacco, alcohol, and drugs) are bad.

• Even bad habits like heavy social media usage can affect you negatively or take up a

  large amount of time.

• We often spend a lot of time shaming ourselves for these bad habits and waste our

  energy.

• Habit stacking is a great behavioral intervention where you take multiple small habits

  that are already automatic and stacking them together. This enables you to start or stop

  doing something.

• For example: If you have difficulties waking up in the morning, you can set a routine

  where you start your coffee machine as soon as you get up from bed. Then after

  washing your face, your coffee is ready for you to drink while checking your emails.

  Creating this habit trains your brain to recognize that this is a reward to look forward to

  when you wake up resulting in it being easier over time.

• Another example: If you aimlessly scroll through social media while brushing your teeth,

  you can try to do something else like turning off and dimming the lights in your house

  while brushing your teeth instead. You are replacing the bad habit with something new.

• If you find yourself doing things like trying to relax after work with a glass or two of wine,

  remove the “with” part of it and realize you ultimately just want to relax. Now find

  something new that is relaxing like playing with your dog, talking on the phone to a

  friend, etc. 

Takeaways:

• Substance use is an important problem. For tobacco, quit lines are available. 1-800-Quit-Now is recommended.

• For other substances—try: https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline

• Give yourself the time and space to sit what the habit is and what it is doing for you.

• Habit stacking can be helpful in setting better habits.

• Don’t sit too long in the guilt and shame. Use habit stacking to make small changes to these habits and help you lead a healthier lifestyle.

Intro/Outro Music Credit: Corner Store Breakfast by Reasonforworry

Edited by Stephen Barnett