How Dopamine Keeps us Ensnared With our Addictions

Do you often find yourself trying your possible best to resist engagement in a certain compulsive behaviour — for which, an engagement in would majorly breed negative consequences for you in the long run — only to end up giving in to those same compulsions eventually because you simply could not pass up the momentary gratification it offered? A lot of this kind of behaviour is down to something called dopamine. So what is dopamine? Simply put, they are neurotransmitters that our bodies secrete to trigger and sustain motivation in the pursuit of our interests.

In the 21st century, there are so many activities competing for our attention, with the majority of them being more about momentary pleasure and less about long term rewards. Examples of such activities include video gaming, viewing of pornography, drinking of alcohol, usage of recreational drugs, usage of social media, and possibly more. Before the introduction of these modern-day activities which give precedence to short-term gratification, the way in which we used to utilize dopamine was in the performance of long and arduous tasks such as hunting, cooking, gathering, and so on. However, what has happened, with the influx of the multitude of activities centred upon momentary gratification, is our dopamine secretion systems have been short-circuited. This is because contemporary activities, which are more expedient, cause greater surges of dopamine under lesser amounts of time, than the more arduous and long term oriented activities of old. We need to take note that, our brains develop prioritizations for activities based on dopamine, in that, greater priority is assigned to activities that stimulate more dopamine under less time. This is why one can easily spend hours surfing social media, but will find it excruciating spending those same hours studying. Because the former gives a greater and quicker rush of dopamine than the latter activity.

The mistake a number of people struggling with addiction are susceptible to make is thinking they can overcome their addiction with willpower alone. Something we need to realize about willpower is that it is like a muscle because it gets exhausted after much exertion. Paraphrasing the words of Daniel Z. Lieberman, M.D., who is a professor and vice-chair for clinical affairs in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at George Washington University, it is hardly common for a person struggling with addiction to get over the line with willpower alone, because our dopaminergic urges are much stronger than our willpower and they also tend to outlast willpower. I can attest to this as I have also dealt with some form of addiction in my life. Again paraphrasing the words of Daniel Z. Lieberman, M.D., the human psyche constantly has two sets of competing desires: one set being inspired by logic and the other being inspired by instinct. He went further to say humans tend to lean towards acting on those desires inspired by instinct a lot more, because of our biological nature to simply act on impulses and compulsions. A heroin addict knows taking a shot of heroin would bring largely negative consequences in the long run, but he neglects simple logic because the willpower to do the reasonable thing is too weak in comparison with the dopaminergic urges he struggles with. In spite of our biological shortcomings, Daniel Z. Lieberman, M.D. — with his vast knowledge and experience in the field of psychiatry — gave the key to overcoming addiction as being strategizing. Strategizing by way of substituting bad habits with new healthier ones, seeking assistance and support from others who are willing to help you overcome the bad habit or addiction, refraining from or limiting exposure or access to devices, people, places, and even circumstances that may lead to a lapse.

Do you often find yourself trying your possible best to resist engagement in a certain compulsive behaviour — for which, an engagement in would majorly breed negative consequences for you in the long run — only to end up giving in to those same compulsions eventually because you simply could not pass up the momentary gratification it offered? A lot of this kind of behaviour is down to something called dopamine. So what is dopamine? Simply put, they are neurotransmitters that our bodies secrete to trigger and sustain motivation in the pursuit of our interests.

In the 21st century, there are so many activities competing for our attention, with the majority of them being more about momentary pleasure and less about long term rewards. Examples of such activities include video gaming, viewing of pornography, drinking of alcohol, usage of recreational drugs, usage of social media, and possibly more. Before the introduction of these modern-day activities which give precedence to short-term gratification, the way in which we used to utilize dopamine was in the performance of long and arduous tasks such as hunting, cooking, gathering, and so on. However, what has happened, with the influx of the multitude of activities centred upon momentary gratification, is our dopamine secretion systems have been short-circuited. This is because contemporary activities, which are more expedient, cause greater surges of dopamine under lesser amounts of time, than the more arduous and long term oriented activities of old. We need to take note that, our brains develop prioritizations for activities based on dopamine, in that, greater priority is assigned to activities that stimulate more dopamine under less time. This is why one can easily spend hours surfing social media, but will find it excruciating spending those same hours studying. Because the former gives a greater and quicker rush of dopamine than the latter activity.

In the 21st century, there are so many activities competing for our attention, with the majority of them being more about momentary pleasure and less about long term rewards. Examples of such activities include video gaming, viewing of pornography, drinking of alcohol, usage of recreational drugs, usage of social media, and possibly more. Before the introduction of these modern-day activities which give precedence to short-term gratification, the way in which we used to utilize dopamine was in the performance of long and arduous tasks such as hunting, cooking, gathering, and so on. However, what has happened, with the influx of the multitude of activities centred upon momentary gratification, is our dopamine secretion systems have been short-circuited. This is because contemporary activities, which are more expedient, cause greater surges of dopamine under lesser amounts of time, than the more arduous and long term oriented activities of old. We need to take note that, our brains develop prioritizations for activities based on dopamine, in that, greater priority is assigned to activities that stimulate more dopamine under less time. This is why one can easily spend hours surfing social media, but will find it excruciating spending those same hours studying. Because the former gives a greater and quicker rush of dopamine than the latter activity.

The mistake a number of people struggling with addiction are susceptible to make is thinking they can overcome their addiction with willpower alone. Something we need to realize about willpower is that it is like a muscle because it gets exhausted after much exertion. Paraphrasing the words of Daniel Z. Lieberman, M.D., who is a professor and vice-chair for clinical affairs in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at George Washington University, it is hardly common for a person struggling with addiction to get over the line with willpower alone, because our dopaminergic urges are much stronger than our willpower and they also tend to outlast willpower. I can attest to this as I have also dealt with some form of addiction in my life. Again paraphrasing the words of Daniel Z. Lieberman, M.D., the human psyche constantly has two sets of competing desires: one set being inspired by logic and the other being inspired by instinct. He went further to say humans tend to lean towards acting on those desires inspired by instinct a lot more, because of our biological nature to simply act on impulses and compulsions. A heroin addict knows taking a shot of heroin would bring largely negative consequences in the long run, but he neglects simple logic because the willpower to do the reasonable thing is too weak in comparison with the dopaminergic urges he struggles with. In spite of our biological shortcomings, Daniel Z. Lieberman, M.D. — with his vast knowledge and experience in the field of psychiatry — gave the key to overcoming addiction as being strategizing. Strategizing by way of substituting bad habits with new healthier ones, seeking assistance and support from others who are willing to help you overcome the bad habit or addiction, refraining from or limiting exposure or access to devices, people, places, and even circumstances that may lead to a lapse.

The mistake a number of people struggling with addiction are susceptible to make is thinking they can overcome their addiction with willpower alone. Something we need to realize about willpower is that it is like a muscle because it gets exhausted after much exertion. Paraphrasing the words of Daniel Z. Lieberman, M.D., who is a professor and vice-chair for clinical affairs in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at George Washington University, it is hardly common for a person struggling with addiction to get over the line with willpower alone, because our dopaminergic urges are much stronger than our willpower and they also tend to outlast willpower. I can attest to this as I have also dealt with some form of addiction in my life. Again paraphrasing the words of Daniel Z. Lieberman, M.D., the human psyche constantly has two sets of competing desires: one set being inspired by logic and the other being inspired by instinct. He went further to say humans tend to lean towards acting on those desires inspired by instinct a lot more, because of our biological nature to simply act on impulses and compulsions. A heroin addict knows taking a shot of heroin would bring largely negative consequences in the long run, but he neglects simple logic because the willpower to do the reasonable thing is too weak in comparison with the dopaminergic urges he struggles with. In spite of our biological shortcomings, Daniel Z. Lieberman, M.D. — with his vast knowledge and experience in the field of psychiatry — gave the key to overcoming addiction as being strategizing. Strategizing by way of substituting bad habits with new healthier ones, seeking assistance and support from others who are willing to help you overcome the bad habit or addiction, refraining from or limiting exposure or access to devices, people, places, and even circumstances that may lead to a lapse.