Articles on substance use, habits and wellbeing

How to look at your data without turning it into a verdict on yourself?

Reviewing your own substance use data can produce shame as easily as insight. Research on behaviour change is clear that self-criticism impairs the change process rather than accelerating it. Here's what the evidence says about how to hold the data without it becoming self-punishment. 7 min CBTbehavioural activation

My parent was an alcoholic. What does that actually mean for me?

Having a parent with a severe alcohol problem roughly doubles your statistical risk of developing one yourself. That's worth understanding clearly. It's also worth understanding what it doesn't mean, what it doesn't determine, and what the research says about what actually makes a difference. 8 min alcoholmen

How to get the most out of ayodee?

ayodee works whether or not you've decided anything about your use. But there are ways to use it that make the difference between a rough picture and a genuinely revealing one. This is what actually matters. 7 min privacydata

How to tell if you're drinking out of habit or out of choice?

There's a meaningful difference between choosing to have a drink and having a drink because that's what you do at this time, in this place, with these people. Most people have never clearly distinguished the two. 6 min alcoholsleep

Is your drinking normal?

Most people who wonder if they drink too much conclude they're probably fine , because everyone around them drinks similarly. That reasoning has a flaw. Here's a more honest way to answer the question. 7 min habitsself-monitoring