The Myth of Dopamine

Songs used are from Housecat

SOURCES

Sapolsky, R. M. (2017). Behave: the biology of humans at our best and worst. New York, New York, Penguin Press.

John P. O'Doherty, Peter Dayan, Karl Friston, Hugo Critchley, Raymond J. Dolan,
Temporal Difference Models and Reward-Related Learning in the Human Brain,
Neuron, Volume 38, Issue 2, 2003, Pages 329-337, ISSN 0896-6273,

[nnoodl]

It’s not about the destination, it’s about the dopamine we got along the way

[rainbowcloudss_]

"If being happy was easy, then everyone would be." WHAT A LINE.

[jorji]

i recently went through a dopamine detox for about 2 weeks bc of personal reasons and all the cons said in the video are spot on. it takes what feels like more effort than before when trying to resist the temptation of going back into old habits. while the dopamine detox has allowed me to appreciate everything more than before and has helped me overcome obstacles, this idea of the modified version of the detox, to not just completely just deprive yourself of anything stimulating but to replace bad habits with new ones, is most likely a better alternative for the long run and i will definitely try it. o7
ironic timing of the video

[greyboi]

I know when I see a new Sisyphus55 upload I get a rush of dopamine

[noahhuelsman]

As a man who overcame addiction, I had to understand that replacing it with nothing would just leave me feeling so empty that I would be ripe for relapse. I had to replace it with healthy alternatives, and then I had results.

[gabeisawesome]

As someone who's had a particularly challenging experience with ADHD, this is spot on.
It's not about pleasure, it's about the motivation to pursue a path to a desired end. Until I started taking Adderall, I literally had to shame, coerce, hate, and punish myself relentlessly to get any task done that wasn't incredibly quick reward for very little effort. You can imagine all the maladaptive coping mechanisms that emerge from such a conundrum.

Consider this a PSA for anyone that has or thinks they might have ADHD. Adderall (and learning about my brain) has helped me a lot.

With Adderall, I'm not magically fixed, though. Using a car as analogy for my brain, imagine a car with a very small gas tank, a loose steering wheel, a fast engine, and weak brakes.
My brain/car has developed a very fast engine and weak brakes to cope with this low fuel supply so I can hopefully get up to speed and use the momentum to coast to my destination.
Adderall is like temporarily upgrading to a regular-sized gas tank and tightening the loose steering wheel. However, the brakes aren't fixed and, unlike everyone else that's developed it over their lives, I don't have power steering so I really have to YANK on the wheel to turn.
So, when on Adderall, I have to be very cautious and intentional with what I choose to spend my time on.
I have to make sure I take time to transition between tasks. Otherwise, I'll keep going one direction until the gas runs out.
But, overall, my brain is still better at getting me to important destinations with it than it is without it.

I hope that made even a little sense to some of you lol.

[johnthegreat]

You really hit the nail on the head with this one Sisyphus. I personally am on a journey or changing what I derive dopamine from. Instead of eating out, I'm trying to find the joy in meal prepping. I always hated cooking but being able to cook once a week and be done with it is actually somehow really fun and rewarding. I always hated running, but following a regiment has really helped me get into it. Though the activation energy was a bit high, after I started, I kinda fell in love with it and it feels rather intoxicating when i reach a goal. It is about changing what makes you feel good, not just stopping yourself from feeling good.

[momchi]

I am not going to comment specifically about dopamine, but my problem with happiness in life is that even when I found my career passion in life, physics, it just continued getting harder and harder and no matter how much I learned and grew it was never enough, when I was little finishing high school felt like it would be a big deal, it wasn't, then a bachelor felt prestigeous, it wasn't. Now I have yet to finish my master's and yet from working in a scientific institute for a couple of months I see that not even a goddamn PhD means all that much.
This just feels like it plucks at my enjoyment of science and that I am stuck, since I know only things related to physics (any type of physics really) would bring me any joy as a career, yet that has few job prospects and absurd demands, but other careers wouldn't be easier since I wouldn't have the passion to study them well and it will take even more of my time being alive to respecialise.
I understand my problem is that I think of happiness and satisfaction as an end goal, where I am "good enough" and won't feel pressured into continuing the rat race, I will make enough money, do good enough work and just be content and free to do other stuff. But this isn't how the world works, it's about competition and as long as there are people deeper into science doing greater things, then the institute and educational facilities will continue wanting more.
I should be happy with the journey of growing and being more educated, but that started to fade after 2nd year in uni when studying stopped being a fun activity that engages my brain and I feel smart for understanding "complex" topics relatively quickly. Quantum mechanics was weird, but with a few years I got the hang of the ideas somewhat (there is always some uncertainty, lol) and it became one of my favorite fields, but then quantum field theory and general relativity just kicked my ass. That was kinda fun, but also so torturous. And I knew that even if I learned them, that that is old physics still and I would not be done. I just want my hard work to pay off already, I want to enjoy life, not feel forced to be more, do better, keep pushing.
I want the journey to end already! And I am 24, still young to be thinking such things, I have no idea what the future holds for me, these past 6 years changed my perspective on life in really negative ways.

To anyone who read it all, thank you for putting up with my venting!

[kvlt]

You have been killing it lately man, keep it up! This channel has had a profound effect on my life. Thank you for doing what you do and sharing such valuable knowledge with us.

[uydagcusdgfughfgsfggsifg]

8:35 So true - Near the end of my partying days, I noticed the ritual of chopping up lines and such was much more fun than the actual effects following insufflation

[nicketaevani-fzukunf]

I just learned this the other day. Dopamine is not the problem. The problem is our perception of what the rewards are. If you see drinking alcohol is as rewarding as not drinking, you won't get addicted.
But of course, this is hard to master since life gives a lot of distractions, boredom, emotional pain, ignorant, etc.

[Jackson-pnpn]

Man, I dont know who you are, what your life is like, or even what your name is. I’ve been watching your videos since I was in high school and all the while you’ve continued to make videos that pull me out of my head and allow me to see the world with more objectivity and graciousness. Thank you for remaining a steadfast inspiration and exposing me to the ideas and philosophies that have shaped my adolescence and young adulthood. Im proud to see the community of people in touch with themselves and the world around them that you have fostered. It gives me hope.

[Neotenico]

It's really uncanny that this was the exact process I worked myself through in therapy for my ADHD, largely independent of any resources other than my own introspection and the gentle guidance of my counselor. Rather than remove myself entirely from my more addictive, instantly gratifying hobbies and habits and forcing myself to do the unpleasant "chores" that I avoid at all costs, I've instead been slowly redefining and internalizing the things that give me a greater sense of contentment.

Over the past couple months, I've found myself less and less inclined to play video games and more inclined to clean and decorate my apartment. Less inclined to order takeout and more inclined to cook. And most of all, less inclined to drink myself to sleep and more inclined to call it a night and lie down so that I can wake up the next day feeling good.

The things that were once chores are now more enjoyable pieces of what I generally call "having my shit together, " the progress towards which is the most gratifying state of mind and being I've found so far in almost 27 years.

[vickysmashesyouwithahammer]

thank you for bringing this to the public!! i'm a psych student as well and i've been telling all my friends about this, it's really important info imo. you always deliver :)

[MaladyKayjo]

For me, I just refuse to let myself lose the simple pleasures. Life can be miserable. that’s kind of unavoidable. Life is inherently tragic after all, tragedy does not exist without its opposite of pleasure and joy. The way I make it through this cold, frigid world it is by holding onto the little pleasures that I can get. This world is a world of ice, but the little bit of warmth that I can create through a controlled flame of pleasure that I get from for example taking a walk outside and hearing the birds chirp, or seeing myself in the mirror, and feeling euphoric about my womanhood, or any other small pleasure. Happiness is not a goal, if you treated as a goal, you will never achieve it as there is no point where you are finally living a happy life. Happiness is the small moments it’s building a flame to survive a world of ice. I am happy. I will never be satisfied, but I am happy because I never seeked to be satisfied. I seek to get the little joys that I could and hold onto them. My advice is basically live for the small pleasures, Not the massive ones. The big ones are nice, but if you become reliant on them, you are dooming yourself for disappointment. As they say the flame that burns twice as bright burns, only half as long. Happiness is not about A big achievement Happiness based on A big achievement will only last you a short amount of time. Happiness based off the small little things that you can achieve every day that you put more focus into and seeing the beauty of this world can fuel your flame for a long time.

[LivingNexus]

The problem I have with people who say "it's the journey, not the destination" is that the journey always sucks. If your life is filled with great friends and interesting people who can make your 'journey' enjoyable no matter what, then I'm really happy for you. But the 'journey' to acquiring a good friend literally takes value away from my life if it doesn't result in acquiring that friend, because those are hours and calories I could have spent acquiring a skill or making money, two things I really need to do. Hell, it would have even been better spent playing a video game, because at least I am having a good time and keeping my mind sharp. And even if I do gain a friend, how long will that friendship last? I don't think I've had one that lasted more than two years.

As someone with chronic fatigue, I don't have hours and days to waste on things that don't pay off. I don't have the energy for it. So to me, telling others to "enjoy the journey" always seems like it comes from a very privileged position. If you have the energy to do everything that you need to do, and all your needs are already taken care of, and you have extra to pursue whatever you want, then of course it's no big deal to you if that energy gets wasted. It's no big deal if the journey has no payoff, because you're not going to be any worse off at the end of it. That's why that advice always rubbed me the wrong way, even if it's technically the right thing to do for most people, who tend to hyperfixate on a specific result and fail to appreciate what's right in front of them.

[niekschilperoord]

While not officially diagnosed, I struggle with porn addiction or have addictive tendencies.

Indeed, it’s not a problem to deprive myself from any joy/dopamine releasing activities, the difficulty lies in doing stuff i’m not used to doing to replace watching porn, like reading a book, working out or learning a new hobby.

I have my periods where I don’t feel the need to watch porn at all, but sometimes I find myself in the deep end. Progress is not linear I understand, and I notice it’s getting better and I feel gradually more in control, but my biggest obstacle remains replacing short term gratification/anticipation excitement with the examples I mentioned.

Here’s to everyone struggling with some kind of addiction, we’ll make it. 🥰

[JustRideTheVibe]

The irony of a video about the nuances of dopamine being sponsored by a company that takes practically all of the time and effort out of reading and turns it into yet another activity of near instant-gratification, is not lost on me.

[markcabrera]

“rather than deprive ourselves of that which makes us happy, we should instead take-on the more arduous task of redefining the things that makes us happy”

I fully agree, depriving ourselves doesn’t solve the root of the problem. Self-reflection, evaluation, & re-directing our actions & focus towards what we truly value is a much better way. At least, that’s what I believe

Love everything & whatever you post man, always interesting to watch ❤

[haidiwu]

omg so maybe THATs why i get so swept up sometimes in the urge to pursue a creative idea or stay up late trying to learn something deliciously frustrating yet doable, because my brain is fuelled by dopamine in anticipation of the rewarding feeling of having completed it, and why i need deadline stress to feel like myself, and yet its hard to motivate myself when most of a task is ahead of me because the end is too far for me to visualize the reward of being done but i work much faster as the end approaches, and why it’s so hard to motivate myself to do day to day things in the absence of excitement and burnout inducing things in my life, because nothing feels rewarding enough if it isn’t challenging in some way and i need to anticipate a nonguaranteed reward (so not one i promise myself but something i really need to earn or gamble for) in order to get the motivation chemicals