The Dopamine Seesaw

Welcome to the Anturas newsletter, where I provide actionable ideas to help you think, learn, and grow. If you enjoy it, please feel free to forward along to friends. Quote of the Week: "We’ve lost the ability to tolerate even minor forms of discomfort. We’re constantly seeking to distract ourselves from the present moment, to be entertained.” - Anne Lembka Content of the Week: "Dopamine Nation and the neuroscience of addiction with Anna Lembke" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC8eA8rNqp8&ab_channel=Science%26Cocktails I highly recommend you check out this speech. If you don't have an hour, here's my favorite part, the "Dopamine Seesaw." Pleasure and pain are located in the same part of the brain and they work like opposite sides of a seesaw. When you experience something pleasurable the seesaw leans one way and when you experience something painful it leans the opposite way. The kicker is our brain does not want the seesaw to stay on one side. Our brain wants to remain level, or in scientific terms, in "homeostasis", so it works really hard to restore that balance.

If you experience pleasure, the seesaw leans towards a "pleasure state." Eventually, your brain will want to balance itself back out, and the only way it knows how, is to force you to experience an equal and opposite amount of pain, tilting the seesaw towards a "pain state" (see picture).

This is why we experience an after effect, like anxiety, depression, a hangover, etc. from dopamine producing activities. Fortunately, if you let that feeling pass, then homeostasis is restored. Unfortunately, if you don't wait and you just keep adding dopamine producing stimuli, your brain won't be able to level itself out, which leads to a lower "dopamine baseline," that can cause sustained anxiety and depression. What does this mean for us? It means that for every pleasure we experience, we pay a price. When you say "yes" to scrolling a little longer, or one more T.V. show, you are also saying "yes" to activating more of the pain chemical in your brain. Does this mean I suggest we stop doing anything pleasurable? Absolutely not! What I am suggesting is that we are intentional with our dopamine producing activities, and take notice how it affects you. Big Questions of the Week: What are your dopamine inducing stimuli (e.g., scrolling, checking your phone, watching TV, unconscious eating, gaming)? Challenge of the Week: Conduct a "dopamine fast" this weekend where you abstain from that activity. This won't be long enough to reset your baseline, but it might show you how connected and dependent you are to your dopamine activity.

Photo of the Week:

Last weekend I headed down to NYC for a friend's 30th birthday party. We had an amazing time and I was able to end it with one of my favorite dopamine inducing stimuli, NYC pizza! It was worth every bite… Till next week, be kind, be curious and work hard. Tanner