How to Overcome Addiction to Substances or Behaviors | Dr. Keith Humphreys

someone says, "I want to quit smoking," a, a good clinician will say, "Why, why would you want to do that?" Just say, "So tell me, w- why would you wanna-- what, what do you wanna get out of this? 'Cause it's work. I mean, I'm happy to work with you, but, you know, what, what is it? What are your, what are your motives?" And, and sort of helping them build up, you know, in their own mind, 'cause again, this is about them, not you, what do you get? And that's what the therapist does. The other thing that's really important is that, like any other-- any time you're making a behavior change, hang out with other people who are trying to make the same change. You want to start jogging? Join a jogging group. You want to stop drinking, I would, you know, suggest go, go check into an A- AA meeting or one of the other fellowships we have. Having other people on the same journey is good for us. It sh- I mean, everything shows that no matter what you're doing, I'm losing weight, I'm exercising, I'm more whatever, I'm quitting smoking, because it gives you two things: it gives you support, but it also gives you some accountability. Say, "Hey, you were going jogging, and, uh, on Tuesday you weren't there. What's up? Are, are you gonna be part of this group or not?" And that is, uh, helpful for people. [upbeat music]

Welcome to the Huberman Lab podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life. I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. My guest today is Dr Keith Humphreys. Dr Keith Humphreys is a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford School of Medicine, and he is one of the world's foremost experts on addictive substances and behaviors and how to overcome addictions of all kinds. He is also an expert on how science, commercial marketing, lobbying, and the legal system interact to create what are called addiction for profit businesses. The alcohol, food, and opioid industries come to mind as just a few examples of these, and he's an expert on how all of that shapes things like legal policy. Today, we discuss all the major addictions to give you the most up-to-date information on alcohol, cannabis, opioids, gambling, and much more. Dr Humphreys gives us the unbiased facts, and more importantly, he explains how to think about the health risks of any substance or behavior in a logical way. For instance, while it may be true that a certain amount of alcohol could afford you some heart health benefits, we hear this, then we hear it's not true, it goes back and forth, he explains that any heart benefits that exist from alcohol are greatly offset by the increased cancer and other risks of alcohol. And with respect to cannabis, he explains who may be okay to use it, but who should absolutely not. We also discuss the most effective ways to get over any addiction. That includes alcohol, pornography, stimulants, and much more. As you'll soon see, Dr Keith Humphreys is no ordinary scientist or psychologist or addiction expert. He has the big picture on addiction and what it means to try and navigate life nowadays in an ocean of addiction-for-profit marketing and confusing health information. I assure you that today he doesn't tell you what to think or what to do about various substances and addictive behaviors, but rather how to think about them, and in doing so, how to avoid and overcome essentially any addiction. It's a powerful conversation that I'm certain will help millions of people make better decisions. Before we begin, I'd like to emphasize that this podcast is separate from my teaching and research roles at Stanford. It is, however, part of my desire and effort to bring zero cost to consumer information about science and science-related tools to the general public. In keeping with that theme, today's episode does include sponsors. And now for my discussion with Dr Keith Humphreys. Dr Keith Humphreys, welcome.