Why You Keep Chasing The First HighWhy You Keep Chasing The First High
I Love Being Sober
Tim Westbrook and Dr. Robbie Westerman talk through how addiction reshapes the brain, why people chase the first high and relapse, and why mental health and sobriety need to be treated together. The conversation blends Robbie’s lived experience with clear explanations of trauma, dopamine and practical tools for building a stable, connected sober life.
1:20:30•10 Nov 2026
Why You Keep Chasing the First High: Brain Science Meets Real-Life Recovery
Episode Overview
- Addiction is driven by overvalued relief and survival-level urges to escape emotional pain, not moral failure.
- The first experience with alcohol or drugs sets a powerful brain template that many spend years trying to recreate.
- Early recovery often feels joyless because dopamine systems are downregulated; simple routines and connection slowly retrain the brain.
- Co-occurring conditions like depression, anxiety, PTSD and ADHD almost always sit underneath addiction and need treatment at the same time.
- Tools such as medication-assisted treatment and TMS can stabilise the brain and give people a real chance to rebuild their lives.
“Like drinking again or using drugs again, like, there's no restarting. Like, you're respawning where you left off.”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? This episode of *I Love Being Sober* brings together science, street experience, and a room full of people in recovery as Tim Westbrook sits down with psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner Dr. Robbie Westerman. You’ll hear Robbie trace his journey from IV heroin at 17, losing custody of his daughter, homelessness and multiple overdoses, to long-term sobriety and advanced training in addiction psychiatry.
He doesn’t romanticise any of it; he talks bluntly about sharing needles, waking up in hospital after being declared dead, and the heartbreak of not being able to stay sober even "to keep your child at home." The heart of the episode is how addiction rewires the brain.
Robbie explains adverse childhood experiences, stress systems, and dopamine in plain language, showing why that first drink or hit can feel like "finally belonging" and why people "keep chasing the first high" for years. His video game analogy for relapse is especially memorable: "Like drinking again or using drugs again, like, there's no restarting.
Like, you're respawning where you left off." For anyone wondering why early recovery feels flat and miserable, Robbie outlines the brain’s downregulation process, why 30–90 days can feel joyless, and how connection, meetings, exercise and simple daily habits slowly retrain the brain for natural pleasure again. He’s equally clear that untreated depression, anxiety, PTSD or ADHD are "there every time" under addiction, and argues strongly for treating mental health and substance use together, including appropriate medication and TMS.
The style is direct, occasionally darkly funny, and very human. Whether you’re a chronic relapser, newly sober, or supporting someone in recovery, you’ll get candid science, relatable stories, and practical ideas for building a life you don’t want to escape from. If you’re tired of being told what to do and finally want to understand the "why", could this be worth your time?
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