How can we navigate a world that is increasingly designed to addict us?

What is happening in our brains?

When we are caught in the relentless pursuit of pleasure and what

This is what I'm going to explore today with Dr.

Anna Lembke on Your Life in Process

This is Dr.

Diana Hill and as a clinical psychologist, I've really seen the

And what we're beginning to understand is that we can

And the core processes that underlie addiction are really the same,

Underneath it is a pattern of emotional avoidance and dopamine

This conversation with Dr.

Anna Lembke is really one of my favorites because she has this beautiful

that she's gained from her clients, as well as some of the neuroscience

You may recognize Anna Lembke as a contributor to the Netflix

And she's a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine

She's published more than a hundred peer reviewed papers, book,

Dr.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Finding Balance In the Age of Indulgence.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And it explores how to moderate our compulsive overconsumption

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

In this episode, we share about our addictions, how

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

We even explore how to raise kids in this world of dopamine overstimulation.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Should you really wait until high school to let your kids have phones?

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I hope this conversation helps you stop and think about your patterns of

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

for those that are struggling with addictions in its many forms and the

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

There is a degree of humility and common humanity that Dr.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Lembke brings to the table.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

She really teaches us that our brains are prime for this.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And our world is a mismatch for a modern day environment.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

As she describes, we are cactuses in a rainforest of dopamine.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And the processes that underlie our sex addictions are the same as those that

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So how can we navigate this world in a way that has a little bit more contentment

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Let's listen to Dr.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Anna Lembke and I'll meet you on the other side with some strategies

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I think probably a good place for us to start is just laying

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

But even before we do that, I have to tell you that when I listened

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And I was like, oh, I'm going to listen to this great book.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I want you to listen to it with me.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And you open with your masturbation machines opening chapter.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It started some conversations between us and by the end, we were in a

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

us to talk about our own struggles, but also really relating to the

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So I appreciate all of them for sharing their stories.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Uh, well thank you.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Yes, so much gratitude to my patients and their willingness to share their

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And there's no doubt that it was a huge risk starting with Jacob's story.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Um, in fact, I had been advised not to do that, but his story had so

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And I just, it seemed dishonest not to open with that.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

But I've definitely gotten pushback.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

There's even a review on Amazon.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

One of the very early reviews that gave me one star out of five, that just said,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Um, And, you know, that made me sad, but, um, but I also understand it.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I mean, that's fair,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And if you stick with it, you start to see that the thread of Jacob's story.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So he's a, it's a story about somebody that has a sexual addiction and, uh.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

But you start to see that the thread of what he's experiencing

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And you even mentioned your own addiction, which you bring up in the book as well.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Yeah.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And the, you know, the sort of aha moment for me to know that Jacob's story

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

talking to me and I thought to myself, and by then I had gotten, let's say

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And the Twilight saga was my gateway drug.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And, uh, it really did progress, you know, to a point where it

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Not anywhere on the order of the kind of life-threatening

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

But nonetheless, there were so many parallels.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And I remember as he was telling me his story, I thought to myself, you know what.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

That could have been me.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I could have been Jacob.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It did not have this kind of otherness to it, even though there are aspects of

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I, I, more than anything, I just identified with his

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And I just thought, you know, there before the grace of God go I.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So that, that's why I wanted to open with it and draw that

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So I'd love to talk about what is that underlying process.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

know, like, like in a neuroscience way, what's happening in our brain.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And then also just the process of what it looks like in life

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Yes.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So let's start with the neuroscience, you know, to me, one of the fascinating

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So that means the same part of the brain that processes pleasure,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And there are three rules governing this balance.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

The first is that the balance wants to stay level and our brains will work

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So let's say in my case, I read, uh, you know, some form of escapist

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

releases dopamine, which is our reward or pleasure neurotransmitter

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

We're always firing dopamine at baseline tonic levels.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Sometimes those levels go up.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

That's when we feel pleasure or euphoria.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Those levels go down, we feel it's opposite.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

But basically when I do something or we do something pleasurable, we

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

But no sooner has that happened then our brains will adapt.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

To that deviation from neutrality or that increased dopamine in the

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And I like to imagine that as these little neuro adaptation gremlins

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

But the thing about those gremlins is they really like it on the balance.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So they don't get off when it's level.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

They stay on until it's tipped in equal and opposite amount to the side of pain.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And that's that come down that after effect that moment for me when the book

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

book, just like it, or very similar so that I can maintain that, that

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Um, now, you know, if we wait long enough those gremlins hop

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

But it's important to fundamentally understand that the way that our

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

any deviation from neutrality is to tip an equal and opposite amount to

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So if the initial stimulus was pleasurable, there's

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And it's, it's in pain.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And sometimes it's very subtle and just outside our conscious

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

The second rule governing this balance is that with repeated exposures to the same

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

stimulus that initial response to pleasure gets shorter and weaker, but that after

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So one way to imagine that is that now that tiny little cute gremlin that

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Boom.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Or maybe that little gremlin is accompanied by four other gremlins because

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

They're sort of hiding in the wings and they love to be on the balance.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So they're waiting for that opportunity.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

That means, you know, for the second novel or the 20th or the

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

But that urge to continue the feeling is even greater because that after response

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And if I continue that behavior over days to weeks to months to years, I end up with

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And now I'm in a dopamine deficit state, and this is essentially

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

This is what happens in our brains as we become addicted that our brain in

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

highly reinforcing and repetitive behaviors or substances essentially

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So we're basically walking around with a balance tilted to the side of pain.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Those gremlins now have brought their tents and their barbecues, and they're

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It's not a permanent kind of thing, but it's very, very long

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It can take a long time to get back to a level balance.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And the way we do that is to abstain.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

But even when we're abstaining, it can take, if we've been using for weeks

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And when you're talking about using, that can be using sort of what we think about

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

romance novels or to our smartphones, or even to, other types of behaviors to

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

That our definition of addiction has really expanded since when I learned about

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I remember having a conversation, I studied eating disorders, and I

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And at that time there was a very hard line that said we do not

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And then meanwhile, I had my own history of an eating disorder and I had,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It wasn't the whole recovery process, but it was an important part of my recovery.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

In the back of my head I was like, I don't know.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I think this is an addiction.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I love it.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So there is now a huge movement in the world of eating disorders or that the

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Bulimia follows that exact same cycle.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Also the purging releases endorphins as our body tries to compensate

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Um, and then you get this flooding of, you know, uh, endogenous opioids, you

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Although body image can be a part of it.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And the classical definition of eating disorders was always like, well,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It's like, no, it's really about this compulsive behavior that we use to

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So you're absolutely right.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

That's being reclassified.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And in general, you know, what I argue in the book is that really everything in

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

If you think about what makes something reinforcing, really

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

But generally it's, it's not, you know, in like the natural world.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

First of all, in the natural world or the, you know, let's say even hundreds

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Like it wasn't ready at hand the way it is now.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

But it also wasn't as potent.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It was just like, you had to walk tens of kilometers to find water

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And you were really hungry after that.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So you were in this dopamine deficit state because you were hungry and it

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Now what we have in food is a great example is food

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It's added sugar, added fat added salt, added chemical flavors made

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

like French toast ice cream, because of course, French toast alone and

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So we had to combine them and make French toast ice cream.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So food really like so many things has become a drug.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And now it's releasing a huge amount of dopamine in that reward pathway, which

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

whether it's, you know, um, sex or, uh, food or drugs or behaviors like shopping

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I even had recently, I was teaching some Stanford undergraduates in Psychology

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And one of them said to me, you know, can you get addicted to a person?

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And I was like, absolutely.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

That is easily falls into the category of sex and love addiction.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And you can even add sex, love, and attachment addiction, you know,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

You know, that's my bucket.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Which brings up the important point of drug of choice.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So we're, we're all.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Our pleasure pain balance is going to be tipped different

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Right?

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

What really tips my pleasure pain balance side of pleasure

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

At the same time, one of the things that I hear a lot in my practice

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And I've wondered about that because I actually do think that

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I'm married to my partner.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Like he, he could drink coffee for two weeks and then just not drink coffee.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

He just doesn't get addicted to things.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And I I've known this about myself from, for a long time and I wonder

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And you talk about some of them in the book to, uh, being prone to addiction.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And then even, you know, sort of what would be the

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Like why, why would some people be more prone to this tendency of

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Yeah, well, great question.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Let me first validate that we do come to the problem of addiction with

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And some of us are clearly much more vulnerable to this process of compulsive

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

If you think about the risk factors of addiction, you can broadly categorize

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Nature has to do with our genetic load.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And it's very clear that a significant portion of the risk

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It's not clear what, you know, what it is.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It's complex, it's poly genic.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It probably has to do with, you know, impulsivity, emotion dysregulation,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So it might have something to do with, you know, co-occurring

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So, so that's very clear that there's this heritable heritable component.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And it's based partially on family studies and twin studies showing that if you have

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

of that substance using home, you have an increased risk of becoming addicted

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

But then there's also nurture and nurture has to do with

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Right?

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So we all know trauma can have epigenetic influences, can, it can

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

But also it goes the opposite way.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

If you're, if you're raised in a home where, you know, you have a strong

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

and what you're doing and who you're hanging out with, those kids and those

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Those, those kids are less likely to become addicted.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So, you know, that makes sense too.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

There are some resiliency factors.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And then there's neighborhood and neighborhood is

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

When we think about neighborhood, we really think about the social

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And if you were living in a neighborhood where drugs are sold on the street corner,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So access itself is a really important risk factor, especially in the modern

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Now, let me just qualify all of that by saying that I used to think that

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Alcohol, it just gives me a headache and makes me sleepy.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Caffeine doesn't wake me up.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Food.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I like food, but you know, food has never been a big draw for

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

My escapist thing has always as, even as a young child been reading,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

But it wasn't until midlife when I got a Kindle and also, sort of you know,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

combined with this access to, you know, a genre of novel, which really has

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It's very formulaic.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And all of a sudden I found myself caught up in that behavior in a way

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

are not by virtue of nature or nurture vulnerable to the problem of addiction,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And some of that neighborhood is in our pocket.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Yes.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

A lot of

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It's not just neighbors.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

our, in our pocket and what I, what I've seen in my practice.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Uh, as sort of a newer form of addiction, that definitely feels like it's on the

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I'm sure is influencing it, but it's also just access to being able to be productive

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And for the folks that maybe had a high-achieving habit and it

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And I will say what I struggle with now is that tendency to lean

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And I've had to use some of the same things that I, that I

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And it's, it's kind of, I that's the thing.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I also appreciated with you when you talk about your book of how.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

In a lot of ways, the, the way that we approach addiction can

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So I'd love to talk a little bit about that.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Like the newer types of addiction we're seeing show up and then

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Like what are effective ways to address it.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Yeah, no, I think that's so important.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I talked briefly in my book about workaholism in the modern

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I think, um, there are so many ways in which not only has work been made

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Um, you know, the ways that there are now built in bonuses and

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

We have this incredibly narcissistic culture, which reinforces,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So you're, you're absolutely right.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

This is, uh, this is something that we have to be thoughtful about.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So how do we approach whatever the addiction they have.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And, and how does it relate to that pleasure plate pain

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Yeah.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Yeah.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So, you know, what I've discovered is that the same approach that I take to

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

any addiction, whether it's food or your smartphone or something that you

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And, and basically it starts with number one honestly,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And writing down or telling another person in specific terms, what

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So this kind of radical honesty around what we're actually doing with our

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Because until we either tell another human being or put it on paper, it can

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

But honestly, we can be living this double life even to ourselves, but once we either

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

whether it's a friend or family member or a professional.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So, yeah.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

You know, I, I do this behavior.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I don't like that I do it because, you know, typically that we have

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I do it this many hours a day, or I use this much, this many days a week.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I do it in these situations.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And then also being honest about how we're lying to others about, about that

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

In fact, one great definition of addiction I once heard was addiction

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

The next step is to then, you know, have some self-compassion

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So I'm going through a dopamine acronym that I have in the book.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

D stands for data.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

That's where you kind of are honest about what you're doing

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

O stands for objectives.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Why do I do this thing?

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Right?

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Why do I read romance novels.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

An incredible escape for me, just lets me forget myself.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Forget, work, forget everything for awhile, but people have different reasons.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So what is, what is your reason.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

The P of dopamine stands for problems?

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

What are the problems associate with the use.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And, um, sometimes it's hard to see those problems in all honesty, but it can be

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

phone or it's affecting my health or it's affecting my ability to, you know, be

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And then A of dopmine stands for abstinence.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And this is really, uh, the behavioral intervention.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And this is a little bit unusual in the world of mental health today because.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

A lot of times, um, in mental health treatment we are told that

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

If we could just, you know, understand the underlying trauma,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And this kind of flips it on its head and says, you know what?

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Sometimes understanding is the booby prize and you just need to change the behavior.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And the abstinence trial is asking folks to take 30 days out of

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And the reason for that is because abstaining from our drug of choice

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

balance and for homeostasis or a level balance to be restored, which is

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Number one, to be able to actually widen our lens and pay attention to,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And number two, to be able to look back and see true cause and effect

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Because the truth is there's an amazing disconnect that happens with addiction.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And when we're chasing dopamine, we cannot see true cause and effect.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It's very, very fascinating.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It's a little bit like being in a manic episode, how people who are manic,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

The same thing happens with addiction.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

There's this incredible disconnect between the prefrontal cortex, which

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

our lives and those lower brain brain structures, including the pleasure

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

prefrontal cortex in essence, and start driving things when really, you know, it

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So that's the essential intervention.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And that 30 days seems pretty important.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And I, I love it when different schools of thought kind of come together.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So if you are in a 12 step program, one of the things that you try and

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So you get radically honest, but then you work through 30 days is your first goal.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And it seems like there's a, there's a reason why you've chosen that 30 days.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It's not just sort of a random number, but actually it maps onto

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Yes.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So number one, there's a very important experiment by Nora Volkow, the head

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

scans, looking at levels of dopamine transmission in people who had used drugs

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Two weeks after they stopped using.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And what she found was in that reward pathway area of their brain, their

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So they were still in a dopamine deficit state.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Their gremlins were still on the pain side of the balance.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

That's really, really important because what it tells us is

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

To restore homeostasis.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I'll have a lot of folks who say, well, can I just stop for a week

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And I'll say, well, you could, but you really won't get to that place

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And in fact, all you may get is the painful parts and that will

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I always warn patients.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

You're going to feel worse before you feel better, but if you can just get through

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

week three or week four, in my clinical experience, you start to come out of that

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

There's also a very, wonderful experiment by Brown and Schuchat showing that

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

who are using alcohol in an addictive way, and also meet criteria for major

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

You put them in the hospital, you give them no treatment, but the

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

At the end of one month, 80% of those individuals no longer meet

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

That is to say, just stopping drinking led to complete resolution

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So that's really, really important because I have so many patients who will

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And if you can just help me be not depressed and anxious, I would stop.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And I said, well, I know that feels true, but it actually might be the opposite.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It might in fact be that your use of this substance or behavior is what is

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So what feels in the moment like it's a relief is actually just

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And if you could abstain for a month, you would discover that that is

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And so the important part there, as well as how you navigate those

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And there's actually, there's some tools that you talk about in the book, but I

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

more acceptance based approaches, which is knowing your why, your values like where,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Great.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And then also the practice of being in the present moment with discomfort.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And if there's one thing that this overstimulation of dopamine is actually

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Because we can escape it much more quickly than we've ever

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And one of my real concerns as a parent is that my children, they're 8 and

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

phone, but they're right on that point where the, the access to to escape,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And I would love to talk with you about maybe even your own decision-making

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Around kids and this, and how we help our kids basically not

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

That's right, right.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Or at least to know difference at least to know

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

or know to the

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

the difference.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Yeah.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So I feel that the, the, those early years, that first decade, decade and

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

creating a healthy platform for kids to know the difference and to develop

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And those are physical coping skills.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

They know how to be in their body.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

They know the importance of exercise and movement and connecting with

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

They know how to interact socially with people in real time, in real life.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

How to greet people, how to be socially appropriate, how to

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

How to deal with frustration tolerance.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

You know, if you don't know the answer to something, how to sit with it for

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

All of these things are so important and we have a really small window

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

The importance of going outside, being in nature, connecting with the environment,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It's a window, it's such a window.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And if we give our kids devices and that window, they are not going to

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So what we decided to do in our family was that we, our kids did

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Um, and we, in fact didn't even have wifi to the house.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So that was kind of a radical decision that we made, but we just

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

My husband and I had our computers at work and we came home,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It worked for us and it was almost easier than what we have

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

When our eldest started high school, she, we essentially had

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Now, this was all pre COVID.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It's even harder now with COVID.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And she then went out and bought her own phone and paid for her own phone plan.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

By the way, we have never bought any of our kids' phone or phones

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So that's the other thing.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I think it teaches them responsibility and also, you know, how to, how much

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And we did that for all of our kids, and I'm so glad that we did because,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

active discussions about the complexity of our relationship to these digital

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I mean, and not, and I'm transparent with my kids about, you know, how it's hard

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

One thing that's very fascinating to me is even though we kind of had the

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

up, you know, once they became older teenagers and got their devices, my

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

All the time.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

There, that's where I have to practice letting go as a parent.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Right.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Um, I have to, I mean, I can, I've given them the tools, they

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And you know, we still talk about it.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

We're going on vacation in next week for a week and nobody is bringing their devices.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Of course, I have to bring mine to even get us on the plane and, you

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

But the bottom line is they're willing to give them up, you

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And I'll be really curious to see how it goes.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Cause it's been awhile since we've taken a tech free

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

you know, as a parent, you can only do so much.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And then at some point they are going to have to figure it out for themselves.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Absolutely.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

You know, I think in some ways though, sort of like, I guess some of your eating

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

feed you, you know, a certain way over your early childhood, and then you go

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Right,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

let's explore everything.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And then, you know, you kind of come back to some of the principles that

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

There's a little bit of exploratory phase with kids, but the attunement to

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

your kids along the way, and even some of the commentary of like, wow, it

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And, you know, I don't have a phone in my hand so I can climb this tree, you all

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

right?

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

things.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

But I've noticed that we have we actually have conversations about

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

They don't have phones, but they play Minecraft craft and they have a little bit

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It feels to not have that dominating our day.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And the dopamine detox, I think, is actually something that people

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Folks that are in recovery and do a lot of spiritual retreats in

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I really make a commitment to at least doing two spiritual retreats a year.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Actually when this is launched, I'm going to be on one in Costa Rica.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And during that time, everything just settles down, back to basics

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

What am I, you know, just eating

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

right,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

the food, moving through the day and that that's enough.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And in a lot of ways, I think that we've lost contact with our natural

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Oh, yeah.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I really agree with you.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And I love sort of your image of that thing.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Things kind of settled down and go to their natural resting point

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

That's really where we want to be.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

We want to be at that angle of repose, that natural resting point.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So the secret, I think is how can we, how can we integrate

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So I, I, you know, take vacations or spiritual retreats.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I think that's really great and important, but in a way, you know,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

If we could figure out a way to do that.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Rather than having to like, take a break from life and then go back.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And, and I, I think, I think that, I mean, that's what I'm trying to work toward.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Um, it is really hard.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It takes an intentional slowing down.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I mean, a literal slowing down.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Trying to have, I try to have a couple of days a week.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I haven't achieved it very often where I have nothing at all on my

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I try not to rush places.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I try to leave enough time for me to get there.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And to get there in a calm and centered way.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

There they're just little things, but I think we, we, we, as, uh,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And we need to work towards it because everything is so automatic.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I mean, everything from, it used to be if, when, if I had clients coming always

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

of just settling in the chair and kind of getting here and being just sort

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And we're in this world where you're on a screen and boom, you're right there.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Boom let's go.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So the the purposeful insertion of slowing down, I think, is it also

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

If we can be , in the slowness a bit more.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Yeah, I love that.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I love the way you describe things.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It's really nice.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And I think that what we're talking about right here too, is also

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Because I will have parents, you know, so desperate that their kids are spending all

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And yet those parents will be doing the exact same thing, even

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

If you know, they'll get, you know, I don't know how many

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So we, we really need to model, you know, what we want our kids, the

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And I do think this kind of centeredness and slowing down and the ability to

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

is really important for parenting, especially uh, small children, because

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

restless, um, you know, feeling that we can generate, um, when we're not,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

there are some key processes to healing our addictions, including

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And if you want to explore some of these with me, then go download the Act Daily

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

The practices that you teach is the detox, the dopamine detox.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And then the other one you teach is around self-binding.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Which in, in the way that I would describe it as sort of environmental

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Like, what's that, how was your neighborhood supporting you in of

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Can you talk a little bit about that in terms of the self binding?

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Yeah.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So I think it's really important to acknowledge that if we just rely on our

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

this, you know, what presented with our the object of our desire, we are going

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

What we need to recognize is that we need to change the immediate environment in

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So, you know, I've learned from my patients, many different types of

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

from literally getting, you know, potato chips out of the house

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Not having it there.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

People with pornography addiction or alcohol addiction, when they travel,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Just really recognizing that I will do better if I'm not

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Um, and interestingly, even on a neurochemical level, we can do this now.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So there are new medicines that you can take that, for example,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Opioids mediate a lot of the reinforcing substances and behaviors that we use

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

receptor, that can be a way to, to kind of create an environment where we're

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I had a patient who said that he didn't even realize he was an alcoholic until

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Which I thought was really fascinating because that would

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Or patients I've had patients who walk into like a break room and

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I mean, people really don't appreciate that, that that's the intense kind

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So ways to kind of, you know, put these barriers between

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It can also be time can be a barrier if our goal is moderation

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So after the 30 days, some people want to continue abstinence.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Some people say, no, I want to go back to using, but I want to use in moderation.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Then you can use things like time constraints.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I'm only going to use two days a week.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I'm only going to use two hours a day, for example, with video games or um,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Um, we're saying I'm only going to use, you know, with friends in celebratory

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

that you don't have a celebratory occasion every single day, which happens by the

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So these are the types of kind of self binding strategies.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

This idea, again, of anticipating that we will be tempted and then

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

limits the kind of willpower work that we have to do because willpower

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

We wake up with more willpower in the morning than we

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And we can only exercise that willpower so long and then we

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Okay.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So I have a question around this, and this is, um, I think coming from very much

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

to create sort of some of the self binding or environments that prevent you from

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Right?

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

For example, I work with clients.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Let's get rid of the scale, like first day, you know,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

There's nothing helpful that you're going to see on there.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

If it's up, it's bad.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

If it's down, it's bad.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

If it stays the same, it's It's going to drive, it's going to

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Right.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It's a cue.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So we need to look at what's cuing our behavior.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

On the other hand, there's very much a philosophy that I really believe

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

things that cue us and how can, because we can't go around the world, you

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Oh my gosh, there's a scale.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And they'll come back and they're like, I stepped on the scale and I'm

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And we work with the, the thoughts that show up for you and how

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

We work with the urges.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

We work with the story.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

We work with all the stuff that shows up in the presence of your cues.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And I, and it's a real kind of, choice point, like some of this decision point as

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And then also when is the time to say, you know what, this just doesn't safe for me.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So I think a couple things here.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

One it has to do with timing where we are in our recovery.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And if we're in the very beginning, just that very first 30 day dopamine

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

That's a time to really avoid triggers so that you can make

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

If after that, when, when you know, we've restored homeostasis and we've got, you

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

we're enjoying other things and we've developed some other coping strategies and

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

If at that point know.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

We want to try some exposure therapy, just so we can make it in the world.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Because as you say, you know, you, can't sort of, you don't want to be, you

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Um, you know, then I think, you know, graded exposure is I'm a huge proponent.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And, you know, I write about it in the book with a patient of mine

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And then he goes through this graded exposure, and really gets

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Of course, I had a terrible flying phobia.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

My, my treatment for myself was just to fly a lot.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I still don't love flying, but it's much better than it was before, but

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I think there has to be a place where we can go where things

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And it's not like we're not always like the challenge, you know?

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Um, so I guess that that's, I would think about in terms of the timing

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

the world, but really wanting to preserve at least one place where,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So I've been thinking about that for you shared about your, your own

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

a kid who read and, uh, it would be sad if you couldn't, you know, read or maybe have

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

How have you navigated that for yourself?

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Very interesting.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So I did a 30 day dopamine fast.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I, I, uh, experienced quite intense withdrawal.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I was not able to sleep initially, but got through the first two weeks, got 30 days.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Um, felt really good about that, felt better.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Decided I was going to go back to reading romance novels.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Binged.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Had a terrible binge weekend.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

That's called

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

and that

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

abstinence violation

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

abstinence violation effect.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I said, oh dear, this is a bigger problem than I thought.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So I gave it up for a whole year.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And when I say I gave up romance novels, I also gave up a certain behavior that

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I did that for a whole year.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Um,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And something very interesting happened, which I hear also from

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

They are zero appealing to me and it's not because I still have the

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

They don't do it anymore.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Like the drug doesn't work.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I have like burned out those, those neurons or those,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And I will hear that all the time from patients of mine that their

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

If they can't get to where they want to go.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

They still crave it.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And I still crave romance novels.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

But when I actually pick one up and start to read it, I'm like, oh my

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So what I have done, because I do love to read is I've changed what I read and

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

in the book, which is if you can't get your dopamine by pressing on the pleasure

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Because what happens when we press on the pain side is that those neuro adaptation

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So now I read a lot of nonfiction, which is something I never read before

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So, I read, I read more memoirs.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So I'm reading like in a whole different area.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It's not the kind of escapist numbing thing that I used to love.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Every once in a while, I'll find a mystery that does that for me

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It's a weird icky, hungover feeling because almost inevitably

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I can't stop.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So I'll go the whole day.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Then I'll go into the night until I finish it.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

The next day I'll be tired.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So it's a, it's a very strange loop.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Yeah, it's a sort of cotton candy

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

That's right.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

like, ooh, but I can't quite bite into it.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I, I want, I want that feeling of a bite and satisfaction uh, and certainly

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

with my own clients of the anticipation, it tells you it's going to be so much

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And also when you have awareness, when you start to have greater awareness of

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I wonder about that component of pain and stepping on the pain side and

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

He's a experimental psychologist at Yale.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I don't know if you've read his book, but his book is called The Sweet Spot.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So it's very much about this, uh, the sweet spot between pleasure and

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

You would love his book.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I'll

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Yeah, put it on your nonfiction list.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Yeah.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

To binge on.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Uh, and, and I think it also maps onto a lot of ancient traditions and ancient

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

sort of the Four Noble Truths of our attachment in our craving is what causes

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And the, the pain side can be everything from being willing to

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Yeah.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

hot yoga.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And can you tell us a little bit about that and some of, cause you talk, you

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So I'm going to talk about you this whole science of hormesis, this idea

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

to that injury by upregulating our feel good hormones and neurotransmitters like

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And there's lots of interesting science to show that that's true,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And the quintessential example is always exercise.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Exercise, I think in particular.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Is relevant for dopamine because of course, dopamine is essential to movement.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Um, even in primitive nematodes, dopamine is released to allow that worm to move

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Parkinson's disease, is a disease caused by lack of dopamine or too

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So movement and dopamine and reward and pleasure are all mixed together.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And what happens when we exercise is we're essentially, you know,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

But again, what that does is that triggers our own homeostatic reregulating

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And studies show that when people exercise, dopamine slowly increases

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

really, really fascinating in stark contrast to when we like eat a cookie

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

a really a sudden release of dopamine in the reward pathway followed very

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

That's the dopamine deficit state, until we eventually return to baseline.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So there's a really high costs that we pay.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Whereas when we intentionally do things that are painful, whether

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It's money in the bank, right, that we can then draw off of for hours afterwards.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Moving our bodies, whether or adults is in some ways a panacea for so

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I mean, meant, to move and if you can move in nature.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And if you can move with other people, and if you can move in a way that it's

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And even if you can move while doing something meaningful to you.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So I love the work of Katie Bowman who's a biomechanist.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And she, she really changed my life about 10 years ago to start

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Everything from, are you whipping your cream with by hand and like passing

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And I see it, you know, the, the fascination with fidget spinners

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

they move up and down and then now it's these little poppers that kids

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

All right.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I know, I

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

You don't need a fidget spinner.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So it movement is important.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And I will also say, and you do mention this in the book that

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I mean, it's just, it's kind of

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I know, I know, but, but, you know, but, but we we get addicted to moving because

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So, so like these machines that allow us to track, you know, our heart rate and

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And that that's the addictive, you know, like, like Strava or,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Yeah.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

The Apple Watch

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

of

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

how many times I'm asking people to take 30 day detox from that.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Hey, this is Diana.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So there's this awkward ending when my internet dropped and Dr.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Lembke was able to hop on and just do a quick goodbye.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

But we didn't really get a chance to close.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And I guess I just wanted to say to her, if I had a chance to say

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I would say thank you for modeling radical honesty in your work.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Thank you for standing behind your values.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

As a parent, even as the world around you is doing something different and thank

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Thank you, Dr.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Lembke for being on the show.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Diana, it has been such a pleasure to talk to you.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I feel like I, I learned a lot and, um, I really appreciate

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I can see how you would be a really excellent therapist.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Maybe I'll come see you someday.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Okay, let's take some of these teachings from Dr.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Anna Lembke and apply them to your life.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Here're some tangible takeaways that I would encourage you to consider,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Number one, get honest.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

What are you addicted to?

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It might be email or weighing yourself or social media.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Maybe it's a substance.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Get honest and tell someone about it.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

It takes some psychological flexibility processes like being present and

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

about our addictions, but it's really difficult to work with something or change

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And then the second part that I encourage all of us to try is to

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Pick something small that you're willing to detoxify for the next 30

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

What are you willing to commit to?

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

You can support yourself by setting up your environment to support your detox.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Create some self binding, maybe change the cues that trigger your

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And then number 3.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Identify the values behind the change that you want to make.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Values, again, are another core process in psychological flexibility, and

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Your values are what I want you to draw upon and remember, and bring up close

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

and allow for the discomfort, because it's in the service of your values,

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Root yourself in your values.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Let them be your ground and your direction.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Okay.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

So here's the things to focus on.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Get honest.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Make a 30 day commitment.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Set up an environment and self binding that supports you.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And root yourself in your values.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Let me know how it goes for you.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

I want to know.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Your Life in Process.

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

When you enter your life in process, when you become psychologically

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

If you like this episode or think it would be helpful to somebody, please

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

If you have any questions, you can leave them for me by phone at (805) 457-2776 or

Lembke's newest book is Dopamine Nation:

And it's not meant to be a substitute for mental health treatment.