Why Some People Get Addicted While Others Have It Easy - Anna Lembke

Anna Lembke is a psychiatrist who is Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic at Stanford University and an author. Dopamine is a key neurotransmitter in our reward pathway. It tells us when to feel pleasure and pain, it can cause depression and anxiety, and it's being hijacked by the modern world. Phones, video games, porn, food, our world is filled with cheap dopamine, which in turn is making us miserable. Expect to learn how dopamine creates a see-saw balance of pleasure and pain, why cravings to use your phone are driven by dopamine, the truth about dopamine detoxing, how to reset your brain's dopamine balance, the most successful interventions for changing your relationship to dopamine long term and much more... Sponsors: Join the Modern Wisdom Community to connect with me & other listeners - https://modernwisdom.locals.com/ Get 50% discount on all products site-wide from MyProtein at https://bit.ly/proteinwisdom (use code: MODERNWISDOM) Get 20% discount on Reebok’s entire range including the amazing Nano X1 at https://geni.us/modernwisdom (use code MW20) Extra Stuff: Buy Dopamine Nation - https://amzn.to/3pL2Uw8 Get my free Reading List of 100 books to read before you die → https://chriswillx.com/books/ To support me on Patreon (thank you): https://www.patreon.com/modernwisdom #dopamine #depression #detox - 00:00 Intro 00:40 How Does Dopamine Work? 10:27 Why Men Feel Sad After Sex 20:20 Dopamine Detox Truths 24:48 How Social Media Impacts Dopamine Levels 31:40 Which People are More Likely to Become Addicted? 37:45 Preventing Addiction Through Purpose 43:55 Utilising Discomfort to Rebalance Dopamine 50:37 Anna’s Tips to Control Dopamine 1:02:49 Where to Find Anna - Join the Modern Wisdom Community on Locals - https://modernwisdom.locals.com/ Listen to all episodes on audio: Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2MNqIgw Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2LSimPn - Get in touch in the comments below or head to... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx Email: https://chriswillx.com/contact/

Anna LembkeguestChris Williamsonhost

Nov 1, 20211h 3mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: November 1, 2021
Duration: 1h 3m
Channel: Modern Wisdom
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Anna Lembke is a psychiatrist who is Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic at Stanford University and an author. Dopamine is a key neurotransmitter in our reward pathway. It tells us when to feel pleasure and pain, it can cause depression and anxiety, and it's being hijacked by the modern world. Phones, video games, porn, food, our world is filled with cheap dopamine, which in turn is making us miserable. Expect to learn how dopamine creates a see-saw balance of pleasure and pain, why cravings to use your phone are driven by dopamine, the truth about dopamine detoxing, how to reset your brain's dopamine balance, the most successful interventions for changing your relationship to dopamine long term and much more... Sponsors: Join the Modern Wisdom Community to connect with me & other listeners - https://modernwisdom.locals.com/ Get 50% discount on all products site-wide from MyProtein at https://bit.ly/proteinwisdom (use code: MODERNWISDOM) Get 20% discount on Reebok’s entire range including the amazing Nano X1 at https://geni.us/modernwisdom (use code MW20) Extra Stuff: Buy Dopamine Nation - https://amzn.to/3pL2Uw8 Get my free Reading List of 100 books to read before you die → https://chriswillx.com/books/ To support me on Patreon (thank you): https://www.patreon.com/modernwisdom #dopamine #depression #detox - 00:00 Intro 00:40 How Does Dopamine Work? 10:27 Why Men Feel Sad After Sex 20:20 Dopamine Detox Truths 24:48 How Social Media Impacts Dopamine Levels 31:40 Which People are More Likely to Become Addicted? 37:45 Preventing Addiction Through Purpose 43:55 Utilising Discomfort to Rebalance Dopamine 50:37 Anna’s Tips to Control Dopamine 1:02:49 Where to Find Anna - Join the Modern Wisdom Community on Locals - https://modernwisdom.locals.com/ Listen to all episodes on audio: Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2MNqIgw Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2LSimPn - Get in touch in the comments below or head to... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx Email: https://chriswillx.com/contact/

SPEAKERS

Anna Lembke
guest
Chris Williamson
host

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Modern Wisdom, featuring Anna Lembke and Chris Williamson, Why Some People Get Addicted While Others Have It Easy - Anna Lembke explores anna Lembke Explains Dopamine, Addiction, and Finding Fulfillment Through Pain Anna Lembke outlines how pleasure and pain share a single neural "balance" governed largely by dopamine, and how modern abundance chronically tilts that balance toward pain. Repeated high-dopamine activities (drugs, porn, social media, gaming, phones) push the brain into a dopamine-deficit state, driving anxiety, depression, and compulsive use just to feel normal. She explains why some people are more vulnerable to addiction (genetics, mental illness, environment, access) and how cues and cravings work in the brain. Lembke advocates dopamine “fasts,” intentional discomfort (hormesis), meaningful work, and deep relationships as practical ways to reset the brain and build sustainable well‑being.

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