INSIGHTS FROM DOPAMINE NATION BOOK BY ANNA LEMBKE

Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence

When you pursue pleasure, you get pain.

Pursuing and enjoying pleasure will spike dopamine in your brain, but every dopamine spike is followed by a prolonged dopamine crash below your “feel‐good baseline.”

Picture a pleasure‐pain seesaw sa iyong utak. Kapag nag-check ka ng iyong phone for interesting messages, kumain ka ng paborito mong comfort food, o naglaro ka ng nakakaengganyo mong favorite video game, you jump on the pleasure side of the pleasure‐pain seesaw. Ngunit dapat makamit ng utak ang balance (i.e., homeostasis) kaya kumukuha ito ng mga gremlins to jump on the pain side of the pleasure‐pain seesaw.

“After any deviation from neutrality, our brains will work very hard to restore a level balance, or what neuroscientists call homeostasis.”

Anna Lembke

Kapag ang isang gremlin ay dumapo sa pleasure‐pain seesaw, ito ay mananatili ng mahabang panahon. If you experience frequent pleasure (na madaling gawin sa modernong mundo), gremlins accumulate on the pain side of the pleasure‐pain seesaw. The pleasure‐pain balance ay nagpapaliwanag kung bakit ang mga tao sa mayayamang bans ana may access sa constant pleasure have the most suicides, depression, and physical pain.

Kung kulang ka sa motivation to do most things or no longer enjoy the simple things in life, you must get gremlins off the pain side of your pleasure‐ pain seesaw sa pamamagitan ng dalawang bagay: pursue pain or abstain.

PURSUE PAIN

“Pressing on the pain side of the balance can lead to its opposite—pleasure. Unlike pressing on the pleasure side, the dopamine that comes from pain is indirect and potentially more enduring.”

Anna Lembke

When you explore ang mga sumusunod na paraan to pursue intermittent pain, you startle the gremlins camping out on the pain side of the pleasure‐pain seesaw and get them to jump over to the pleasure side:

1. Turn down the temperature on the gremlins sa pamamagitan ng paglubog ng iyong katawan into an ice bath or enduring a cold shower sa loob ng ilang minuto. Ang initial shock na iyong nararanasan will be followed by a gradual 200% rise in dopamine (katumbas ng pagtaas ng dopamine na nakukuha ng isang tao by snorting cocaine, but unlike cocaine, you don’t experience a massive dopamine deficit afterward).
2. Turn up the temperature on the gremlins sa pamamagitan ng vigorously exercising and sweating sa loob ng ilang minuto. Voluntary exercise leads to a gradual 100‐200% rise in dopamine.
3. Briefly starving the gremlins by intermittent fasting (pag-inom lang ng tubig at electrolytes) sa loob ng 16‐20 hours. Your energy will paradoxically rise at the tail end of the fast at magkakaroon ka ng tremendous pleasure from simple foods (like broccoli or blueberries) when you break the fast.

ABSTAIN

Abstaining is intermittent dopamine fasting – pansamantalang pag-iwas sa dopamine spikes so the gremlins get bored at iwanan ang pain side ng iyong pleasure‐pain seesaw – until you regain a baseline level of motivation na gawin ang mga simpleng bagay. A dopamine fast typically means sticking to low‐ stimulation activities and pag-iwas sa: Chocolate or foods you crave (ice cream, fast food, etc.), drinking or partying, energy drinks and dopamine boosting drugs (cocaine, methamphetamines, etc.), pornography, and immersive video games and mobile apps (like TikTok and Twitter).

Only engage in low stimulating activities hanggang sa i-reset ng iyong utak ang dopamine levels nito and you no longer feel miserable (maaaring tumagal ito ng ilang araw). Kung mayroon kang craving for a particular substance or activity, you must abstain from that substance or activity for 30 days to reset the reward circuits in your brain. Author Anna Lembke has created a D.O.P.A.M.I.N.E. guide to help you get through a 30‐day dopamine fast:

DATA

Kapag nangolekta ka ng data on your behavior, you might be shocked to learn kung gaano kalubha ang iyong addiction. Halimbawa, recording the amount of sugar you consume sa isang linggo and learning that you ingest 700g a week ‐ which is over 80lbs of sugar a year – can spark a feeling of disgust which will create a desire to abstain from soda drinks for 30 days.

OBJECTIVE

When a girl in the book started smoking marijuana, gusto niyang bawasan ang kanyang anxiety. But after months of smoking marijuana, she constantly thought about her next “joint”, and her baseline level of anxiety was higher than ever before.

PROBLEM

Ang lahat ng addictive behaviors ay umaalipin sa iyo by making you crave the substance or activity para lamang makaramdam ng normal. Higit pa rito, addictions gradually erode the relationships you care about most.

ABSTAIN

Abstain for 30 days to reset your rewards circuits.

MINDFULNESS

Your abstinence ay isang opportunity to practice mindfulness. Kapag nakakaranas ka ng craving, wonder where your craving is coming from inside your body. Kung mas mausisa ka, the less your abstinence will feel like torture.

INSIGHT

The girl who abstained from marijuana told Lembke, “The first few days were bad. I felt blah. I threw up on the second day. Insane! I never throw up. I had this really sick feeling. That’s when I realized I was withdrawing, and that motivated me to keep going with abstinence…Because it was the first piece of evidence, I had that I was really addicted.”

NEXT STEPS

Ano ang gagawin mo after your 30‐day dopamine fast is over? Planning to enjoy an addictive substance or activity in moderation after the 30‐day abstinence can motivate you to complete the dopamine fast.

EXPERIMENT

Pagkatapos mag-eksperimento with moderation, you might relapse and realize your addiction ay masyadong malakas. In that case, resolve to stop the behavior for good. Be like the alcoholic who tells his friends, “I don’t consume alcohol.”

“It’s only after we’ve taken a break from our drug of choice that we’re able to see the true impact of our consumption on our lives and the people around us.”

Anna Lembke

Author: The Pinoy Engineer

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