157. Dopamine Detox: The Answer To Addiction - Dr. Anna Lembke

Today, I am blessed to have Dr. Anna Lembke, a psychiatrist and author of The Dopamine Nation.  We’re living in a time of unprecedented access to high-reward, high-dopamine stimuli: drugs, food, news, gambling, shopping, gaming, texting, sexting, Facebooking, Instagramming, YouTubing, tweeting....

In her book, Dr. Lembke  explores the exciting new scientific discoveries that explain why the relentless pursuit of pleasure leads to pain…and what to do about it. In her book, she condenses complex neuroscience into easy-to-understand metaphors and illustrates how finding contentment and connectedness means keeping dopamine in check. The lived experiences of her patients are the gripping fabric of her narrative. Their riveting stories of suffering and redemption give us all hope for managing our consumption and transforming our lives. In essence, Dopamine Nation shows that the secret to finding balance is combining the science of desire with the wisdom of recovery.

In this episode, we talk about how overabundance is actually a problem for us in this easy-to-access economy. How long does it take to restore and reset dopamine pathways? We go over the 8-Step Framework Dr. Lembke uses with her patients to reset dopamine pathways, why pain needs to stop being avoided and embraced, and how "pro-social shaming" can help reset the cycle of shame. Anyone that's faced addictions and is trying to figure out the 'why' behind them, and learn how to reverse them, this episode is for you.

If you're looking for holistic health coaching and getting to the root cause of your issue, or you want to lose weight permanently through a holistic method that focuses on mindset, nutrition, detox, and habit mastery, then DM me “I'M READY”@joelevancoaching or email me [email protected] [www.joelevancoaching.com]

Timeline

3:32 - Why Dr. Lembke felt dopamine research was so important for today
5:00 - Why is an overabundance actually a problem?
7:17 - Your cellphone is a digital drug
9:00 - Rats deprived of dopamine died almost instantly
12:00 - How long does one need to reset dopamine pathways
17:00 - Addictive pathways don’t just go away
19:08 - How to use the 8-step process to reduce dopamine addiction
26:54 - Why we need to stop avoiding pain
31:26 - Why “pro-social shaming” can break the cycle of shame
37:10 - Lightning Round Questions

Other Resources/Links
Dr. Anna Lembke's Website

Books Recommended
Dopamine Nation