This week on Sober Awkward, Vic steps away from alcohol to explore another addiction that is quietly growing across Australia: Nangs.

Nitrous oxide, often sold legally and delivered to your door within minutes, is commonly seen as harmless party fun. But for Sam Bramman, what started as a few nangs at a house party quickly spiralled into a devastating addiction that led to psychosis, hospitalisation and a long road to recovery.

Sam shares the shocking reality of what happened when nitrous oxide took over his life, including the psychotic episode that saw him drive from Sydney to the Gold Coast before ending up in a psychiatric ward. He talks openly about addiction, recovery and why he believes Australia needs stronger regulation around the sale and delivery of nitrous oxide.

Now the founder of the No 2 Nangs campaign, Sam is using his experience to educate young people, support families and push for change. He is also preparing to run 350 kilometres from Sydney to Parliament House in Canberra to raise awareness of the issue and campaign for greater public education around a substance he describes as both legal and lethal.

It’s an eye-opening conversation about addiction, vulnerability, recovery and a drug many of us know very little about.

Follow Sam’s work:

Instagram: @sambramman

TikTok: @stepsforchange

💛 Resources & Links

📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted Sundays

A brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.

👉 Buy the book here

🎧 Listen to more Sober Awkward episodes

👉 www.soberawkward.com

🫖 Join The Cuppa Community

Our private, supportive online space for sober folk

👉 www.cuppa.community

📘 Get the Sober Awkward Guide

Our downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.

👉 The Sober Awkward Guide

📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:

Instagram: @soberawkward

TikTok: @soberawkward

Facebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women

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This week in the Share Shed, one listener wakes up to discover he’d apparently spent 40 minutes running barefoot on a treadmill at 3am… after swimming in a stranger’s pool and blacking out at a party.

The only problem? He remembers none of it.

A hilarious story with a surprisingly thoughtful twist about sobriety, fitness, and what happens when one obsession gets replaced by another.

The Share Shed is where listeners send in their funniest, cringiest and most unbelievable drinking stories. It’s not about judgement, it’s about recognising how wild things could get when alcohol was in charge, and laughing about it now we’re on the other side.

But sometimes, it’s also a place for the harder stuff, the honest bits we don’t always say out loud.

If you’ve got a story you’d like to get off your chest, funny, awkward or something a bit more serious, you can send it to Vic at:

vic@soberawkward.com

Anonymous is absolutely fine. In fact, for legal reasons, probably preferable!!

📞 SUPPORT & RESOURCES

If anything in today’s Shame Shed felt familiar, or you’re worried about your drinking, there is support out there. You don’t have to do this on your own.

🇦🇺 Australia

National Alcohol & Other Drug Hotline

📞 1800 250 015 (24/7)

🌐 https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/alcohol-and-drug-information-service

Lifeline

📞 13 11 14 (24/7)

🌐 https://www.lifeline.org.au

Hello Sunday Morning / Daybreak

🌐 https://hellosundaymorning.org

🌐 https://daybreakapp.com.au

Clean Slate Clinic

🌐 https://www.cleanslateclinic.com

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Drinkline

📞 0300 123 1110

🌐 https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-advice/alcohol-support/

Alcohol Change UK

🌐 https://alcoholchange.org.uk

We Are With You

🌐 https://www.wearewithyou.org.uk

🌍 International

Alcoholics Anonymous

🌐 https://www.aa.org

SMART Recovery

🌐 https://www.smartrecovery.org

💬 A gentle reminder

If you’re drinking in the morning to cope, especially with anxiety or withdrawal symptoms, it’s really important to speak to a doctor or medical professional. Stopping suddenly can be unsafe for some people, and support can make a huge difference.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Sober Awkward, Vic sits down with TJ Power, a well-known neuroscientist, author of the Sunday Times bestseller The DOSE Effect, and the founder of the DOSE Lab. He is a leading voice in demystifying brain chemistry, focusing on helping people manage digital burnout, phone addiction, and overstimulation in the modern world.

TJ shares his own story of changing his relationship with alcohol, including a powerful epiphany at a music festival that made him completely rethink what connection, fun and presence really mean. Together, they explore the surprising similarities between alcohol addiction and phone addiction, and why both are fuelled by the same dopamine-driven reward systems in the brain.

The conversation takes an unexpected turn when Vic has a rather uncomfortable realisation of her own. Eight years sober and feeling quite smug about no longer disappearing into bottles of wine, she suddenly discovers she’s been disappearing into something else instead… her phone.

In a moment that feels a bit like being caught snogging behind the bike sheds, Vic realises she may be neglecting her children in exactly the same way she used to neglect them with alcohol. Not physically absent, but mentally elsewhere. Half listening. Half scrolling. Forever saying, “Just one second, darling…”

It’s a surprisingly emotional moment as TJ explains that the dopamine hits from our phones aren’t a million miles away from the rewards we chase through alcohol, and Vic starts to wonder whether she’s simply swapped one distraction for another.

This episode isn’t about throwing your phone in the sea or moving to a cave. It’s about becoming curious about the habits that quietly shape our lives.

And make sure you listen right to the end, because Vic returns with a surprising update after attempting her own digital detox weekend.

A fascinating conversation that might just make you question your scrolling as much as your drinking.

Find TJ here - @tjpower

@doselab - Order the book now - https://a.co/d/0fghgGAc

www.thedoselab.com

💛 Resources & Links

📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted Sundays

A brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.

👉 Buy the book here

🎧 Listen to more Sober Awkward episodes

👉 www.soberawkward.com

🫖 Join The Cuppa Community

Our private, supportive online space for sober folk

👉 www.cuppa.community

📘 Get the Sober Awkward Guide

Our downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.

👉 The Sober Awkward Guide

📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:

Instagram: @soberawkward

TikTok: @soberawkward

Facebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.