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To Cut Back on Pandemic Drinking, Understand How Your Brain Works
How choice justification distorts our view of reality
It’s 3 p.m. on Thursday afternoon. You’ve had a hard day and still have a long list of “to-dos” to tackle before it ends and need something to help you relax and get through. A glass of wine or a beer should do the trick. You’re working from home, so no big deal. In fact, you deserve this, right?
I’m modeling this scenario after one that several patients in my outpatient clinic (which, I might add, specializes in addiction psychiatry) have replayed for me. More and more, I’m seeing patients come in wondering if their increased alcohol use is a problem. They seem genuinely puzzled — unsure whether they can trust what their brains are telling them when it comes to choices around alcohol. Their (increased) drinking makes a lot of sense to them, justified even, given the pandemic.
They are not alone. We’ve all seen the numbers, heard the stories, and likely witnessed or exhibited this trend.
