A Practical Guide to Controlling Addiction & Dopamine | Dr. Anna Lembke | Knowledge Project 159

Psychiatrist and author Dr. Anna Lembke discusses dopamine, addictive behaviors, warning signs and treatment for addiction, and how our brains handle all that pleasure and pain in life.

Dr. Lembke is a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine and chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. She appeared in the 2020 Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma to discuss the addictive nature of social media, and she is the author of the 2021 New York Times bestseller Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence, which explores how to moderate compulsive overconsumption in a dopamine-overloaded world.

--
00:00 - Intro
01:20 - Dopamine, explained
02:17 - Dopamine and motivation
10:30 - Addiction, explained
13:46 - Pleasure, pain, and withdrawal
24:08 - Early warning signs of addiction
26:39 - Treatment for addiction
36:29 - Stress and addiction
39:40 - Why is AA so successful?
48:26 - Does the time of day impact relapse?
51:34 - Why Lembke studies addiction
54:26 - The hardest thing for fellows to learn
57:39 - Lembke's difficulties with sleeping
01:03:05 - What success looks like for Lembke
--

📈  OUR MOST POPULAR INTERVIEWS

🎙 Listen to the show 

GET IN TOUCH

JOIN OUR COMMUNITY

ABOUT THE KNOWLEDGE PROJECT
Like the mentor you’ve always dreamed of having, The Knowledge Project shares timely yet timeless lessons for work and life. Past guests include Naval Ravikant, Daniel Kahneman, Jim Collins, Angela Duckworth, Seth Godin, Melanie Mitchell, & Esther Perel.

[geo]

I've been alcohol dependent from my early teens until well into retirement age. Despite my daily drinking I managed to have a clean driving record, a 25 year marriage, and 28 years with the same employer. But that's all gone now. I went from psychological dependence to full on physical dependence, requiring 8 in patient detoxes over the years.

I gave AA a shot, but it had a negative impact on my psyche. I felt like drinking more after meetings than before I went in. I did work the steps with a sponsor and tried different meetings, but the urge to drink only grew stronger. I switched to the SMART Recovery Program and have been sober since Sept 2021.

[buskingkarma]

I swapped a 40 year drug and alcohol addiction for a compulsive house cleaning addiction, 5 years ago! Best life choice that I've ever made👌

[missaomagica]

The best addiction expert in my opinion. I watch every video she is in, and i will buy every book she writte.

[PodcastsRecapped]

What an incredibly informative podcast - thank you for sharing. We took some notes/key takeaways for the listeners:

-Once people begin to use addictive substances in large quantities on a regular basis, it changes their brain, and now they have a secondary problem - addiction
-Dopamine is the common pathway for all reinforcing substances and behaviors
-Addiction is not so much related to the release of dopamine when they're getting high or experiencing pleasure, but it's actually the decrease in dopamine that leaves people in a state of craving
-The universal symptoms of withdrawal from any addictive substance are anxiety, irritability, insomnia, dysphoria, and craving
-For every pleasure we pay a price, and that price is pain
-Addiction can be broken down and ranked based on four criteria: control, compulsions, cravings, and consequences
-In general, the more dopamine a substance or behavior releases in the reward circuit and the faster it releases dopamine, the more likely it is to be addictive.
-Growing alcohol tolerance is a marker of a brain that is entering the dopamine deficit state chronically, and therefore at risk of addiction.
-For people who have become addicted, 30 days is the bare minimum to begin to reset reward pathways, two weeks is almost never enough.
-Stopping alcohol alone can alleviate the stigmata of depression
-Addiction patients with the most robust recoveries are the ones who have learned that they have to tell the truth about everything
-We have more willpower in the morning than at night
-So much of our lives are governed by the prospect of rewards and how we're going to finish this to get to the next thing. But over time, progressive disappointment in those rewards can cause problems
-Success for Dr. Lembke is just having a good day - a lot of good days add up to a pretty good life

[chevkoch]

Since I've more and more discovered knowledgable people lately who are authentically willing to share information as a service to others in order to help them get better, like Dr. Anna Lembke, I feel I've fallen onto the good side of this video platform for once, which is rare. Thank you for this fantastic interview.

[richardclark]

This was often a very moving conversation. Dr Lembke’s candor added so much to my ability to comprehend the information she was trying to convey. She was the example that makes the abstract concept comprehensible. And the humility she shows allows me to trust what she has to say, it tells me she is striving to know her own truth, without deception, though it may be inconvenient and uncomfortable, and even painful.
And congratulations to the interviewer for bringing out the best in his imterviewee.

[plops]

This was the best presentation on addiction I’ve heard, and I’ve heard many

[Kwatson]

We are experiencing stress because of over abundance. Wow! That’s why we need to do hard things and moderate. Great info!

[patriciamalt]

30 days to reset domaine ….however a lifetime to address the underlying issues that may be causing the drive to stimulate dopamine…needs constant work and vigilance to overcome…there is no quick fix unfortunately.

[jonr]

Wow this is an important conversation with a top expert, compassionate and erudite, absolute gold.

Only problem is her insight <oh at least a month> to reset...

[abirmukherjee]

Such brilliantly put “success for me is a good day …”❤

[AmandaJYoungs]

This was an extremely interesting interview, and surprisingly easy to watch/listen to. Thank you for sharing it with us.

[Helenalaurino]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for the scientific understanding of why our love ones suffer so much throughout addiction.
Rip Tim 3/4/23 🕊️🪷🕊️🪷.
You are dearly missed.

[jonr]

32:52 yeah, how? Taper down? Substitutes? She is talking about serious drug rehab, what about lower level challenges? Just tough it out cold turkey?

36:00 do something hard to desensitize, ok.

AAA - Remembering the very old skool 12 steps that are still going strong, those people can't touch it EVER again.

So what if you HAVE to face your thing again and again?

[trydowave]

Great vid. Very informative. Ive given up alcohol for over a month now all on my own and have taken on board the fact that in order to never have another hangover ill never be able to experience the high of being drunk ever again. Im getting used to that fact after a month. Bit depressing that ill have to apply that to my other addictions as its basically the same principle. Looks like im gonna have to abstain from food, sex and social media i guess... :(. hey. At least the latter isnt a great loss.

[amerlene]

This is excellent information ℹ️ stay away from your drug of choice for 30 days or more and alleviate 80% of your depression, despair and anxiety ❤it’s not what you’re are eating.. it’s what’s eating you.

[Faye-jewel]

Enjoying to read isn’t a addiction. Reading is great for your brain.

[edenjs]

This felt wonderfully incisive and furthered my understanding of myself.

[sayhiku]

How do we know what baseline stress or homeostasis is?

[carolynwebb]

Gladly watched the whole video, great content. 👍