Dopamine Nation : : Finding Balance in the age of Indulgence

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Call Number: Adult Book / Nonfiction / Science & Nature / General / Lembke, Anna, 152.42 Le
On Shelf At: Pittsfield Branch

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Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Science & Nature / General / Lembke, Anna	4-week checkout	Due 04-29-2024
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Science & Nature / General / Lembke, Anna	4-week checkout	Due 05-06-2024
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Science & Nature / General / Lembke, Anna	4-week checkout	Due 05-20-2024

Introduction: The problem -- The pursuit of pleasure. Our masturbation machines ; Running from pain ; The pleasure-pain balance -- Self-binding. Dopamine fasting ; Science, time, and meaning ; A broken balance? -- The pursuit of pain. Pressing on the pain side ; Radical honesty ; Prosocial shame -- Conclusion: Lessons of the balance.
"Resettling Your Brain in the Age of Cheap Pleasures"-- Provided by publisher.
We are living in a time of unprecedented access to high-reward, high-dopamine stimuli: drugs, food, news, gambling, shopping, gaming, texting, sexting. The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for a wired generation. Lembke explores new scientific discoveries that explain why the relentless pursuit of pleasure leads to pain-- and what to do about it. She illustrates how finding contentment and connectedness means keeping dopamine in check. The secret to finding balance is combining the science of desire with the wisdom of recovery. -- adapted from jacket

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

It’s a moral panic! submitted by mgsobo on June 14, 2023, 10:04pm This book rehashes long lists of societal ills with voyeuristic details from lightly disguised case studies from the author’s work as a psychiatrist treating addiction disorders. The author’s disdain for stimulant medications to treat ADHD comes through loud and clear, and should be read alongside recently published studies that demonstrate that rates of addiction are LOWER among people with ADHD who get proper treatment, including carefully prescribed stimulant medications when needed.

Worth a read submitted by mckeetho on July 1, 2023, 7:16pm I appreciate the other review of this book, and it does seem that the author is a bit dismissive of the power of medication for some people. So read it with a take-what-you-need and ignore-the-rest point of view. I found the discussion of balance to be the most valuable, while the discussion of radical honesty was my partner’s favorite part. Overall, I think it’s a thought-provoking read; what else can we ask for?

Read with context submitted by crp on July 5, 2023, 5:26pm I think this is worth reading as it gets one thinking further about a subject we are sometimes inundated with in the news. We are indeed living in a time of unprecedented access to stimuli that result in high levels of dopamine. I do think it's worth pausing to consider the great assistance many drugs provide patients (especially the medications for ADHD and depression) and to read this book with a certain context in mind. The author herself is a physician and notes that she was on Prozac in her 20s and details her thought process of what life is like without it (worth a read in and of itself). What is lacking is an in-depth discussion of trauma (a surprise as it's published in 2021 after the first year of covid-19) and it's role in people's lives alongside addiction behaviors, especially with regards to potentially maladaptive numbing behaviors.