I’ve just finished reading a fascinating book called Dopamine Nation by Psychiatrist Anna Lembke. Here’s some interesting insights from the book.

Our ancestors lived in a world of scarcity. They needed to eat whenever they could, as they didn’t know when the next meal was coming. In fact, all our resources were scarce, and so we become wired to consume whenever we had the chance.

Fast forward to our modern world, and we are surrounded by abundance. For many of us reading this, anything you want in the world is just a click away. And not just food. Any information, entertainment, online chat, gambling, video games are all just a click away. Beyond that we have access to alcohol, drugs…the list goes on.

And yet, more people than ever are suffering from pain, mental health issues and addiction in our society.

In such a world, where our brains are wired to want more, how do we prevent overconsumption? How do we learn to stop? How can we overcome addictions? And what causes these addictions in the first place? And, are they actual addictions?

One key driver is a chemical in our brain called dopamine. All these pleasurable experiences in our society release the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine gives us the feeling of wanting, craving and motivates us too. Mostly it seems to be about that sense of wanting. The amount of dopamine an experience gives us, can give us an idea of how addictive something may be. Chocolate increases our dopamine level by about 50%. Amphetamines increase dopamine levels by as much as 1000%.

The Pleasure Pain Balance

One of the key discoveries in science is that the same areas in our brain that processes pleasure, also processes pain. And it seems where there is pleasure there will be pain. It’s how our brains work.

“Some of us take pills. Some of us couch surf while binge-watching Netflix. Some of us read romance novels. We’ll do almost anything to distract ourselves from ourselves. Yet all this trying to insulate ourselves from pain seems only to have made our pain worse.”

So pleasure and pain are like a balance. You can’t have one without the other. We know this for big pleasures like highly addictive drugs. When the ‘high’ of the drug comes to an end, the low can be incredibly painful.

A weaker version of this happens to us when we use social media, do online shopping or binge Netflix. We use digital media to distract us from our boredom or loneliness. But the solution is temporary. And before long, you’re bored once again. Or feeling anxious. You again reach for the phone for relief. And the tech companies spend billions of dollars to try and increase that dopamine hit you get as much as possible, so you keep using their services.

So all these pleasures that we can access so easily in our society, leads our balance to tip towards pleasure. Our body rebalances us by then tipping towards pain. You can think of them like gremlins, trying to bring us to balance (in science they call this drive towards balance, homeostasis). Too much pleasure - the gremlins will lean on the pain side to rebalance.

“The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for a wired generation.”

This all leads to addiction. Addiction can be thought of as a spectrum, with mild to moderate addictions, such as our smartphones, to stronger addictions such as to drugs or alcohol. All these experiences release dopamine and urge us to repeat the behaviour. Without keeping these urges in check, they can get out of control.

Mindful Dopamine Fast

So, what’s the solution?

Lembke calls it dopamine fasting, although some question that terminology. We all have a base level of dopamine. But abstaining from whatever experience you’re excessively seeking, is the idea of the dopamine fast.

You won’t be surprised that mindfulness is part of the solution to help free us from our addictions, whatever they may be.

Lembke gives a formula and 30 day challenge that she uses with her clients as well as for herself. She shared the easy to remember acronym to teach this: DOPAMINE.

Data - What is it you’re exactly engaging in excessively? When? Where? How much?

Objective - What does the experience give you? The addiction, if you’re willing to call it taht, gives us something, otherwise we wouldn’t do it.

Problems - Why is this addiction a problem? What issues does it cause you or others?

Abstinence - This is where you stop using the substance or doing the behaviour for 30 days. In Lembke’s experience it takes 2 weeks to reach the peak of pain, as your dopamine system rebalances. And another 2 weeks to get used to not depending on this behaviour/substance. For some it’s much longer, and others less. But 30 days is a great length according to her. (Obviously if you have a serious or substance addiction, you need to talk to a professional and may need medication to deal with this).

Mindfulness - This is where you learn to allow the difficult feelings that you may have been escaping for, surface up. Boredom - letting it be there. Anxiety - making space for it. Sadness - riding the wave of the feeling. You observe in a mindful and kindful way and notice the urge to escape these feelings. You will feel worse before you feel better. 

Insights - Over the course of your abstinence, you watch to see what you can find out. Does your anxiety end up peaking or continues to rise. Was the addiction part of the reason for the anxiety in the first place?

Next Steps - You decide, after the 30 days of abstinence, how you wish to continue. Want to leave the substance or behaviour altogether or use it again in a different way?

Experiment - Notice what happens as you take your next steps. If you find yourself overconsuming, try a different approach and continue to be mindful of how your body and mind respond, until you find the right balance for you.

Is Meditation a Form of ‘Dopamine Fast’?

Reading the insights in this book made me realise one of the reasons meditation may be popular in our culture. It offers a small dose of relief from the whims of dopamine that drive us towards wanting and craving more of anything and everything. And which inevitably leads to pain, too.

And in more extended meditation retreats, or even a day of mindfulness, you are faced with all the emotions you were running away from, like boredom, loneliness, frustration, anxiety, sadness, anger, pain.

When you make space for your more painful emotions to just be there, you’re allowing your dopamine system to reset. And then, you’re more easily able to appreciate the more simple pleasures in life, like a walk in the park or a conversation with a friend, without being compelled to seek something else.

Mindfulness and meditation help you to take back control.