DOPAMINE NATION by Anna Lembke | Core Message — Transcript

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1. 0:05[Music]
2. 0:07i recently read dopamine nation by anna
3. 0:09lemke an addiction psychiatrist at
4. 0:11stanford university
5. 0:14dopamine dictates the quality of your
6. 0:16life
7. 0:17if you keep dopamine levels in your
8. 0:19brain above a certain level what you
9. 0:21could call your feel good baseline
10. 0:23life is full of joy and you're driven to
11. 0:25learn grow and get things done
12. 0:28but if your dopamine level drops below
13. 0:30the feel good baseline you feel anxious
14. 0:32and find it hard to focus
15. 0:34and if you stay below the dopamine
16. 0:36baseline you'll lack the motivation to
17. 0:38do anything
18. 0:39studies show that mice who have their
19. 0:41dopamine levels depleted are not
20. 0:43motivated enough to eat food directly in
21. 0:45front of them and eventually starve to
22. 0:46death
23. 0:48one way to raise your dopamine level is
24. 0:50to seek pleasure by checking your phone
25. 0:52for interesting messages eating your
26. 0:54favorite comfort food or enjoying a
27. 0:56sugary beverage
28. 0:58but the dopamine spike you get from
29. 0:59pleasure is quickly followed by a
30. 1:01dopamine crash that keeps you below your
31. 1:04feel good baseline for an extended
32. 1:05period of time
33. 1:07in other words when you pursue pleasure
34. 1:09you get pain
35. 1:11a pain pleasure seesaw in your mind
36. 1:14when you jump on the pleasure side your
37. 1:16brain hires gremlins to jump on the pain
38. 1:19side to balance out the seesaw
39. 1:22since we live in an age of abundance and
40. 1:24have easy access to pleasure we build up
41. 1:26the gremlins on the pain side
42. 1:29this dynamic explains why people in rich
43. 1:31countries with access to constant
44. 1:32pleasure have the highest rates of
45. 1:34suicide depression and physical pain
46. 1:38if you want to get your gremlins off the
47. 1:39pain side and regain a baseline level of
48. 1:41motivation there are only two long-term
49. 1:44solutions
50. 1:46pursue pain or abstain
51. 1:49anna lemke says pressing on the pain
52. 1:51side of the balance can lead to its
53. 1:53opposite pleasure
54. 1:55unlike pressing on the pleasure side the
55. 1:57dopamine that comes from pain is
56. 1:59indirect and potentially more enduring
57. 2:03when you pursue intermittent pain you
58. 2:05startle the gremlins camping out on the
59. 2:07pain side of the pleasure pain seesaw
60. 2:09and get them to jump over to the
61. 2:10pleasure side
62. 2:12there are three ways you can do this
63. 2:14first
64. 2:15turn down the temperature on the
65. 2:16gremlins by plunging your body into an
66. 2:18ice bath or enduring a cold shower for
67. 2:20several minutes the initial shock you
68. 2:22experience will be followed by a gradual
69. 2:24200 percent rise in dopamine which is
70. 2:27equivalent to the rise in dopamine
71. 2:28people experience by snoring cocaine
72. 2:30but unlike cocaine you don't get the
73. 2:32massive dopamine deficit afterward and
74. 2:34endure a period of depression
75. 2:37method number two
76. 2:38turn up the temperature on the gremlins
77. 2:40by vigorously exercising and sweating
78. 2:43for several minutes
79. 2:45voluntary exercise is shown to lead to a
80. 2:47gradual 100 to 200 increase in dopamine
81. 2:52method number three
82. 2:53briefly starve the gremlins by
83. 2:55intermittent fasting that is consuming
84. 2:57only water and electrolytes for 16 to 20
85. 3:00hours a day
86. 3:01your energy will paradoxically rise at
87. 3:03the tail end of the fast and you will
88. 3:05get tremendous pleasure from simple
89. 3:07foods like broccoli and blueberries when
90. 3:09you break the fast
91. 3:12abstaining is intermittent dopamine
92. 3:14fasting meaning you avoid dopamine
93. 3:16spikes for a period of time so the
94. 3:18ghrelins get bored and leave the pain
95. 3:20side of your pleasure pain seesaw
96. 3:23a typical dopamine fast includes
97. 3:24refraining from chocolate or foods you
98. 3:26crave like ice cream and fast food
99. 3:28refraining from energy drinks and
100. 3:29dopamine boosting drugs like cocaine and
101. 3:31methamphetamines abstaining from
102. 3:33immersive video games and mobile apps
103. 3:34like tick tock youtube or twitter
104. 3:37abstaining from pornography obscene from
105. 3:39gambling and sports betting and
106. 3:40abstaining from drinking and partying
107. 3:43during a dopamine fast you only engage
108. 3:45in low stimulating activities until your
109. 3:48brain can reset its dopamine levels and
110. 3:50you no longer feel miserable
111. 3:52but if you have a compulsive behavior
112. 3:54that has negative consequences then you
113. 3:56need to abstain from that behavior for
114. 3:5830 days
115. 3:59for anne alemke that meant not reading
116. 4:01romance novels at night for 30 days
117. 4:04for myself it meant not checking stock
118. 4:06prices throughout the day
119. 4:08abstaining for 30 days gives the brain
120. 4:10enough time to reset its reward circuits
121. 4:13and allow your withdrawal symptoms to
122. 4:15subside
123. 4:16lemke has created the dopamine guide to
124. 4:19help you and i get through a 30-day
125. 4:21dopamine fast
126. 4:23the dop and dopamine will provide you
127. 4:24with the necessary motivations to start
128. 4:26your dopamine fast the a stands for
129. 4:28abstain
130. 4:29and the m-i-n-e will provide you with
131. 4:32the necessary motivation to sustain your
132. 4:34dopamine fast
133. 4:36d stands for data
134. 4:38when you collect data about your
135. 4:40behavior you might be shocked to learn
136. 4:42how bad your addiction is
137. 4:44suppose you have an addiction to sugary
138. 4:45soda drinks
139. 4:46if you record the amount of sugar you
140. 4:48consume in a single week and learn that
141. 4:50you ingest 700 grams a week which is 80
142. 4:53pounds of sugar a year
143. 4:55you might spark a feeling of disgust
144. 4:57which will motivate you to abstain from
145. 4:59soda for 30 days
146. 5:01o stands for objective
147. 5:04when most people recall their original
148. 5:06objective they realize how far off track
149. 5:08they've gotten a girl in the book who
150. 5:10was addicted to smoking weed started
151. 5:12smoking weed to help reduce her anxiety
152. 5:15but then she needed to smoke weed just
153. 5:16to feel normal
154. 5:18if you happen to be addicted to sugary
155. 5:20soda drinks you may have started
156. 5:22drinking soda to raise your energy and
157. 5:24relieve boredom but now you need to
158. 5:25consume soda just to sustain a normal
159. 5:28energy level
160. 5:30the p stands for problem
161. 5:32the problem with all addictive behaviors
162. 5:34is they enslave you by making you crave
163. 5:37the substance or activity just to feel
164. 5:39normal
165. 5:40what's more
166. 5:41addictions gradually erode the
167. 5:43relationships you care about most
168. 5:45in the case of the girl who was addicted
169. 5:46to weed her weed smoking led to constant
170. 5:49fighting with her parents
171. 5:51the m stands for mindfulness
172. 5:54if you use the urge to engage in a
173. 5:56compulsive behavior as a trigger to
174. 5:58practice mindfulness and get curious
175. 6:00about where the impulse is coming from
176. 6:01in your body
177. 6:03the act of abstaining will no longer
178. 6:04feel like torture
179. 6:06because curiosity is a delightful state
180. 6:08of mind
181. 6:10the eye stands for insight
182. 6:12and alemke says i have seen again and
183. 6:15again in clinical care and in my own
184. 6:17life how the simple exercise of
185. 6:19abstaining from our drug of choice for
186. 6:21at least four weeks gives clarifying
187. 6:23insight into our behaviors
188. 6:26insight that is simply not possible well
189. 6:28we continue to use
190. 6:30the girl in the book who abstain from
191. 6:32weed told lemke the first few days were
192. 6:34bad i felt blah
193. 6:36i threw up on the second day it was
194. 6:38insane i never throw up
195. 6:40that's when i realized i was withdrawing
196. 6:42and that motivated me to keep going with
197. 6:44abstinence because it was the first
198. 6:46piece of evidence i had that i was
199. 6:48really addicted
200. 6:50the n stands for next steps
201. 6:53what will you do after your 30 day
202. 6:54double meat fast is over
203. 6:56if you create a plan to enjoy the
204. 6:58behavior that you're obtaining from in a
205. 7:00moderated way after the 30-day
206. 7:02abstinence you'll be more motivated to
207. 7:04complete your dopamine fast
208. 7:06if for example you're abstaining from
209. 7:07soda drinks you could give yourself the
210. 7:09option to enjoy one soda on sunday while
211. 7:12watching sports
212. 7:13if you're abstaining from smoking weed
213. 7:15you could restrict yourself to just one
214. 7:17joint with a friend every saturday
215. 7:19evening
216. 7:20and the e in dopamine stands for
217. 7:22experiment
218. 7:24after the dopamine fast is over and you
219. 7:26experiment with moderation you might
220. 7:28have a relapse and realize the addiction
221. 7:30is too powerful
222. 7:32at this point you must resolve to stop
223. 7:33the behavior for good and be like the
224. 7:35alcoholic who simply does not drink
225. 7:37alcohol
226. 7:40in the end
227. 7:41if you don't get pleasure from simple
228. 7:43things and you lack the motivation to
229. 7:44get anything done
230. 7:46start pursuing pain or abstaining
231. 7:49pursue pain by lowering the temperature
232. 7:51of your baths and showers
233. 7:53increasing your internal temperature
234. 7:54with exercise and giving your body an
235. 7:56extended break from food every day
236. 7:59abstain from highly pleasurable
237. 8:00activities or compulsive behaviors by
238. 8:03following lemke's dopamine guide
239. 8:05collect data recall your objective and
240. 8:07acknowledge the problem to start your
241. 8:09dopamine fast
242. 8:10then focus on mindfulness insights next
243. 8:13steps and a period of experimentation so
244. 8:15that you're motivated to complete your
245. 8:17dopamine fast
246. 8:19by pursuing pain or abstaining you can
247. 8:21reset the pleasure pain balance in your
248. 8:23brain and restore your baseline
249. 8:26motivation
250. 8:28that was the core message that i
251. 8:30gathered from dopamine nation by anna
252. 8:32lemke
253. 8:33this book will give you the tools to
254. 8:34regain a sense of joy and get control of
255. 8:36compulsive behavior i highly recommend
256. 8:39it if you would like a one-page pdf
257. 8:42summary of insights that i gathered from
258. 8:43this book just click the link below and
259. 8:45i'll be happy to email it to you
260. 8:46if you already subscribed to the free
261. 8:48productivity game email newsletter this
262. 8:50pdf is sitting in your inbox
263. 8:52if you like this video please share it
264. 8:53and as always thanks for watching and
265. 8:55have yourself a productive week