How to Find Balance in the Age of Indulgence - Dr. Anna Lembke

Anna Lembke is professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine and chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. A clinician scholar, she has published more than a hundred peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, and commentaries. She sits on the board of several state and national addiction-focused organizations, has testified before various committees in the United States House of Representatives and Senate, keeps an active speaking calendar, and maintains a thriving clinical practice.

In 2016, she published Drug Dealer, MD – How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked, and Why It’s So Hard to Stop (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016), which was highlighted in the New York Times as one of the top five books to read to understand the opioid epidemic (Zuger, 2018). Dr. Lembke recently appeared on the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, an unvarnished look at the impact of social media on our lives.

"Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence" (Dutton/Penguin Random House, August 2021), an instant New York Times Bestseller, explores how to moderate compulsive overconsumption in a dopamine-overloaded world.

[AfterSkool]

2:12 Big idea # 1: The Pleasure Pain Balance - In order to maintain homeostasis, every pleasure is countered by pain of equal magnitude.
5:06 Big Idea # 2: Dopamine Overload - Easy access to pleasure is is crippling our ability to enjoy life.
8:12 Big Idea # 3: Dopamine Fasting - Taking a break from dopamine will restore balance. To reset your dopamine brain, first abstain.
9:36 Big Idea # 4: Self Binding - Create boundaries to keep your indulgence under control.
12:05 Big Idea # 5: Pain as a Pathway to Pleasure - We can take advantage of the pleasure pain balance by pressing into pain. Pain is the price to pay for pleasure, BUT pleasure is also the REWARD for pain. Pursuing healthy methods of pain (like exercise) is better than any pill.

[LacyJane]

Overconsumption is a huge source of depression because get on social media and experience the feeling of missing out. We think that life is in the big moments (the vacations, the material items, the relationships) and we forget that it’s also the sunsets and the stillness and the fulfillment in waking each day.

[putainparker]

Starting meditating, journaling, exercising and eating healthy really changed my level of happiness and consciousness within one year. I'm so glad that I started last year. You can do too!

[jsnel]

Yoga is amazing for pressing the pain side for pleasure. Breathing to relax while your body is in uncomfortable positions and triggering a stress response, then using your breath to find calm and peace in a place that should be causing discomfort, is a very powerful way to train your mind to remain calm in situations that normally wig you out.

[TW-rrqb]

i deleted all social media about 3 years ago. It really did increase my happiness level exponentially, and i found joy in nature and doing things outside the home. I started to enjoy my alone time as well. Its a great idea to take breaks from phone or other screens OR anything that causes instant gratification. We are in the instant gratification nation.

[Stranger_Strange_Land]

My "drug" used to be reading (fantasy & scifi) novels. Once my head was in a book i could not escape and it changed my mood and attitude when i was interrupted for whatever reason.
Now, it's definitely my phone. Watching videos on YouTube is depressing because it's either negative news/content or seeing someone live a more "productive" life than me.
I've made the rule at home that once i enter my bedroom, no phone.
I even bought an old school alarm. That way i have a room, at least, where i can separate myself from everything and use it for what my body and brain needs (sex and sleep).

[Dajed]

This whole channel has become incredibly profound and impactful in my life. Amongst several factors, these videos exactly highlight why I've left the tech industry making addictive websites and am now in school studying to be a therapist. Watching these videos have helped me feel less alone in my view on technology and modern western culture! I want to help support people in unplugging from their screens and plugging back into physical connection with our planet earth <3

[ADUAquascaping]

Playing music. Anyone who doesn't play a musical instrument with fullness of heart is really missing out on what reality has to offer. Playing music can be the most profound experience and form of meditation in my experience. I recommend everyone to learn a musical instrument

[marionholtzmann]

My brother’s son was addicted to his gaming and computer, back when he was a teenager, he actually spent a few months at a facility that dealt with this kind of addiction. He got so bad that he couldn’t even hold an in person conversation. Today he is a well adjusted young man who rarely is on the internet and his social media. Thank goodness his parents stepped in when needed and got him help.

[seand]

The number of people that I see on a daily basis literally addicted to what’s on their phone screen is sad. I’m thankful for my 72 months of incarceration. It taught me that I can live life minimally. I’m at peace, have a successful real estate business and I’m the happiest person that I know. I hope whoever reads this learns to live life more in the real world and less in the world that’s on their phone screen

[saini]

My respect to Dr.Anna for providing us with such a wonderful presentation.

[megafiremariovolt]

I’m so glad this video exists because I live my life exactly how it recommends but rarely find people talking about this. My friends and family ask me why I’m so happy all the time and now i’ll just send them this video. They think my lifestyle is boring and don’t wanna try it out, but the science is all right here.

It’s annoying that the world is increasingly being dominated by pleasure but I believe people are catching on to the side effects of all this. Everything has a cost.

[syd_santon]

Sometimes I watch videos about dopamine feeling overwhelmed, but this one was different. Thank you! As a mother I really want to give my children the best life possible and build positive habits in the first 7 years of their lives. I know that I can’t do that unless I am also mindfully living it myself!

[juststone]

Despite its lighthearted presentation, this message is more profound than you might think.
The inclusion of Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” and The Hegelian Dialectic / “Problem – Reaction – Solution” hints at the traps and over reaching narratives that govern of our modern times.

[elysianfields]

Balance will soon be considered as a great mind asset in a time where everyone seems to be going from one extreme to the other without even knowing why or how.

[Kidddaytona]

work, drugs, staying to myself and shopping became my identity wtf!!?? I've numbed myself into existing an invisible life what's wrong with me?? How did it happen and truly no one cares I'm not a bad person but feel less worthy then a dog sticking its spoiled head out of a Mercedes hope Noone feels this way but I bet they are many out there like me, Thanks for your videos I so long for deep human conversations that no one I talk too seems capable of doing,

[Nairod]

o_o that explains why self harm alleviates depression temporarily, and I see a possible correlation with masochism... also why it feels so nice to do one more set even if you know tomorrow your knees will wobble.

[oliroberts]

For the creator and contributer to this magnificent piece, I say a heartfelt thank you. This specific video and it's knowledge, blended with our real-world experience, will be the basis of a conversation with our 15 year old son to guide him through the difficult process of understanding the effects of short term gratification offered by technology, into what we hope is a clear perspective on correct use thereof and a happy life. You folks are doing amazing work, and you're loved and appreciated for it!

[MeiaLuaDeCompasso]

Really want to point out that martial arts has been the single greatest dopamine balance I have ever pursued. Capoeira specifically got me moving my body in ways I never thought possible, and the pains, joys, and freedoms granted by the beautiful art pushed my demeanor into the stratosphere. Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu also get my recommendation, but capoeira is where my heart is personally.

[ActionJackson]

Human connection is what we need more of nowadays!