Bingeing On Dopamine

By Tim Elmore

Our kids today are growing up in a world where they can become addicted to happy chemicals. We live in a society that loves to “binge” on things we like. It may be addictions to drugs or alcohol, but it can also be simple pleasures like Netflix, TikTok, or even junk food.

Stanford University research psychiatrist Anna Lembke recently revealed her studies on this topic in a book called Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence. She explores the brain’s connection between pleasure and pain. There’s a sort of “seesaw” or “teeter-totter” inside our brains that goes up and down, releasing chemicals we need to remain stable. People become unhealthy with too much pleasure or too much pain. Each day, week, and month, the seesaw goes up and down as our brain attempts to bring balance to our lives.

The bottom line is, when we seek out pleasures on a nonstop basis, whether legal or illegal, we mess with the neurochemistry of our brain. Paradoxically, the more we chase pleasures, the more the brain tries to compensate, leaving us in a dopamine-depleted state. Feeling low, we consume something pleasurable, so our brains will release more dopamine. We feel happy. If we have easy access to the stimuli, we can binge on it, disrupting our dopamine levels. For example, drug use impairs dopamine to the point that the brain can seek out that substance over anything else. We must choose to stop. In recovery, dopamine won’t heal on its own, but the levels must be reset by introducing healthy daily behaviors into our routine.

Our Internal Teeter-Totter

Our brains have natural ways to keep us chemically balanced. The happy chemicals such as dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, and oxytocin enter our systems as the brain sees fit, like a teeter-totter. When one side goes up, our brain compensates and sends the other side down and vice versa. When we decide to go running for three to four miles, that can be an unpleasant experience. After a while, our brain recognizes this and releases a chemical that balances out the discomfort. That’s why after a good run, we feel good. It’s called a “runner’s high.” Our problem is—in our day, we can hinder our brain’s balancing act.

Now that we’ve migrated into an “on-demand” world where we can determine what, when, and how much content we consume, people have become addicted to the dopamine squirts from the neurotransmitters in their brains and often feel they cannot stop:

• Drugs

• Alcohol

• Prescription meds

• Netflix, gaming, etc.

Let’s face it. We are pleasure-seekers today. We have more leisure time than past generations since so much has been automated and mechanized by technology and machines. Our lives are now easier, faster, and more convenient than ever before. With our extra time, we’ve needed to become better at moderating our search for pleasure and ease. But we have not. Our day is filled with experiences that are instant access, on-demand, and mostly free.

How We’ve Changed in Our Lifetime

Twenty-plus years ago, global studies showed that the happiest people in the world were those who lived in industrialized nations who had plenty to eat, wear, and enjoy. Ten to twelve years ago, we reached a tipping point where these rich nations became less happy than poor nations. Today, people who live in low-income areas are often happier than those who are rich. It doesn’t make sense—unless you consider our inability to manage our dopamine levels.

This reality creates the paradox of pleasure. We enjoy so much more than past generations did that we no longer feel the “plenty” and need more. It’s the “Law of Diminishing Returns.” Here’s a simple analogy. When I first started dating my wife, we both felt our relationship was special. Just holding hands produced increased dopamine. After a while, holding hands was fine, but we both wanted more.

It is natural for both adults and kids to seek pleasurable experiences—from ice cream to funny YouTube videos to trips to Disney World. As I’ve suggested, however, bingeing on these pleasures throws our dopamine levels off, big time. We find it hard to abstain from simple pleasures that our great-grandparents found easy to resist. Why? They had no choice, and we do. We must choose well.

For now, may I suggest you commit yourself to reducing artificial stimulants in your life, like those bad habits you try to hide from others, or even legal addictions like bingeing on Netflix shows. In their place, expand natural stimulations like exercise, reading, exploring, and in-person relationships. Be intentional with your life instead of reactionary.

So, what do we do with this intoxication with dopamine?

Detox and Moderation

Dr. Anna Lembke recommends a dopamine detox. We can be addicted to dopamine squirts that we have created. A true dopamine detox is impossible because the brain continues to produce dopamine all the time. However, refraining from activities that stem from impulse and compulsion may prove beneficial for short periods of time. Dr. Lembke even talks about her own addiction to romance novels. She tried quitting for a month, then went back to reading them. A month wasn’t enough for her. She needed to fast from them for several months for her dopamine to not need a dose of the novels. This can be true of pornography, drugs, alcohol, you name it.

Even if you feel you’re not consuming something addictive, you can be addicted to the dopamine it fosters in your system. Our brains actually know how to create healthy levels—if we practice moderation. We must be disciplined and lead ourselves well.

The key paradox? Do something you don’t like—and you’ll begin to like yourself more.

What Do We Do?

Dr. Lembke calls this return to moderation self-binding techniques. People create both literal and cognitive barriers between our extreme pleasures and our consumption of them. For example, we can choose to not have the substance in the house, whether it’s cookies, potato chips, drugs or anything else. We might call this the limits of space. Some people establish such limits when they travel. They call ahead and ask the hotel to remove the mini bar from their room, so they don’t have access to the alcohol or the snacks they are vulnerable to consuming. They also might put things in a kitchen safe and make sure they don’t know the combination; only their spouse does.

Here’s what our generation needs to understand. Our brains will naturally maintain a sense of happiness or contentment if we practice discipline and moderation. The brain will send whatever is missing and bring balance. When we work hard or exercise hard, it likely feels uncomfortable or even painful, so our brain sends dopamine into our system. We feel good after a hard workout or a long but productive workday. This is a natural way to feel pleasure. Let your brain do what it does naturally. Don’t inject artificial pleasures and binge on them.

The key is to recover the power of managing ourselves through moderation.

Nine Ways to Naturally Enjoy Healthy  Dopamine Levels:

1) Identify where you overindulge in something. Write down your plan to avoid it.

2) Get 7-8 hours of sleep at night to normalize dopamine levels.

3) Avoid junk food and maintain a healthy diet to increase dopamine levels.

4) Exercise regularly to increase dopamine.

5) Spend time outside (for vitamin D) and decrease times when you are sedentary.

6) Meditation and prayer increase our abilities for discipline and mental strength.

7) Engage in healthy, pleasurable activities in moderation.

8) Take magnesium to raise and balance dopamine levels.

9) Invite accountability from someone who knows your goal of balance.

Let’s double-click on two of these. First, exercise speeds up the process by which the brain’s dopamine receptors return to their normal state; once they’ve recovered, one suffering from an addiction is in a much better place to kick their habit because they can once again experience a “high” naturally and are no longer dependent on the substance for pleasure.

Second, there is power in moderation. Both Socrates and Hesiod taught “moderation is best in all things.” The Greek word for moderation meant to restrain our passions, general soberness of living, being free from all excesses. These statements challenge us to moderate our consumption and habits so that we can enjoy balance. In short, we must discipline ourselves so someone else doesn’t have to.

I’ve met teens who “fast” from social media for a while or at least curb their appetites for it. They are masters, not slaves to technology. The same can be done with Tik Tok or Netflix or any other platform. These platforms are designed to nudge us to binge or feed the dopamine squirts. They rob us of our balance. We must take back control of our lives from these thieves.

As a kid, I remember gorging on cotton candy at an amusement park. I ate what my parents got me, then I finished my two sisters’ cotton candy as well. In the moment, I was as happy as a clam. Not long afterward, I regretted it. I paid a price for my cravings. This is how life works. Play now, pay later. Pay now, play later. I had to learn to curb my appetite for dopamine. Let’s help ourselves and our kids to do the same. ■