Dopamine is the boss neurotransmitter that’s all about pleasure and motivation. It’s the little chemical that makes us feel good and keeps us going strong. It’s like the secret sauce that powers our desires and gets us hustling toward success, or so we think. Every time a task is performed, which is anticipated to give us pleasure, dopamine is released. Every time dopamine spikes, we sense pleasure.
Dopamine plays a key role in many body functions, including:
- Memory
- Motivation
- Mood
- Movement
- Attention
- Pleasure and reward
- Sleep
- Learning
- Behavior
- Cognition
Dopamine, the neurotransmitter responsible for pleasure and motivation, plays a crucial role in our daily lives. According to Dr. Andrew Huberman, a respected expert in the field, it is important to note that smaller, irregular spikes of dopamine can be more beneficial than consistent high spikes. While it may be tempting to seek constant and intense pleasure, such patterns can lead to a longer recovery time for dopamine levels to return to baseline. This can potentially dampen our motivation and hinder our ability to engage in productive tasks. Understanding the intricate balance of dopamine can empower us to optimize our well-being and pursuit of meaningful goals.
The implications of frequent surges in dopamine levels, although not readily apparent, should not be overlooked. It is crucial to address the potential ramifications associated with the propensity for such increases to be elicited by diverse stimuli, including video games, substances, or intimate encounters. The fact that any such activity can result in this spike is of concern.
Dopamine and constant stimulation can impair your ability to think long term.
Thibaut Meurisse | Dopamine Detox : A Short Guide to Remove Distractions and Get Your Brain to Do Hard Things (Productivity Series Book 1)
The Consequence of Too Much Dopamine:
- Addiction: The happy hormone is capable of triggering an addiction. Think about it: you do an activity and instantly are rewarded with the greatest spike of dopamine. Wouldn’t you want that again? That insane sense of pleasure. You most definitely would. Over time, though, as the dopamine recedes below baseline and you are not getting the same spike you got previously, you end up doing it more often. Isn’t that how addiction works? You use a drug, you get a high. Later, when you don’t get the same high, you tend to overuse or abuse the drug. The same happens with everything else. Aren’t most of us addicted to social media or maybe watching YouTube shorts?
- Procrastination: When you get an instant dopamine high, your brain just wants more and more of that high. Now, why would it want you to do anything that is not giving you that insane amount of pleasure? So, it asks you to ignore everything else. “You’ll have a lot of time to do that project later,” is what it will tell you. Or maybe anything else to keep you playing that video game, scrolling your feeds, watching those videos, etc. This has happened a lot to me when those extra 5 minutes have made hours disappear in the blink of an eye.
- Attention: Generally, every activity we do, there is a little dopamine spike after a while. Like reading a book will give you delayed pleasure, maybe when you apply things you have read. But certain activities give us instant gratification. There is no delay. Like drugs, alcohol, smoking, social media. Because of this instant and amplified spike, anything else we do, we are not able to attend to properly. We want everything to end fast just to reach that spike. As a result, the attention span is also affected. This is now fed by the fact that YouTube, WhatsApp, Spotify have this speed bar which can increase the speed of the entire thing for you to reach the end soon. Because they know you want that dopamine spike soon. Maybe that is the reason most of us these days can’t talk on the phone for too long or why we don’t call people without a reason nowadays. Or this may be why the general rate of speech is increasing. These are just my thoughts, though. My imagination running wild.
There is more…
Studies suggest that ADHD is linked with low dopamine level.
Dopamine stimulation may drive you into the pursuit of that activity
or event and push you away from everything else into possible social isolation.
It may also result in depression and anxiety
Dopamine, a powerful neurotransmitter, has a wide range of effects on the human body and mind. In fact, Dr. Andrew Huberman extensively explores these consequences in his enlightening Huberman’s Lab Podcast. If you’re curious about the impact of dopamine, I highly recommend checking out his episodes, as they delve into this topic in great detail. Furthermore, in my upcoming post, I will share my personal journey of breaking free from the clutches of excessive dopamine stimulation. I genuinely believe that these insights may prove beneficial to you, as I have begun to witness notable positive changes myself. Stay tuned for an empowering exploration of this subject!