samsong

Dopamine: Friend or Devil#

Dopamine is at the core of all addictions.

Why do we get addicted?#

The happiness you think you feel is actually dopamine hijacking you#

Dopamine gives us a sense of craving for more sensations, rather than a sense of satisfaction.

Especially when it comes to scrolling through videos, dopamine is released when the videos are novel and interesting. You feel intrigued and dopamine is released, making you crave to see more of these fascinating videos.
But the massive increase in dopamine also means massive consumption. The dopamine pool gets depleted, and people feel terrible. So they seek activities and substances that can trigger dopamine release, mistakenly believing that this will raise their dopamine baseline and bring them back to the peak.
However, we know that the dopamine synthesized by the human body is limited. Instead of reaching new peaks, the baseline level of dopamine decreases because more dopamine is consumed.
In the end, people end up in a state of low dopamine levels. So when people are addicted, they don't actually experience much happiness.

How do casinos make you addicted?#

Dopamine reward prediction error - the concept#

When we expect something to happen, we have a strong motivation to pursue it. If that thing happens, we get rewarded.
The reward comes in the form of various chemicals, including dopamine. And then we are more likely to engage in that behavior again. This is the basis of how casinos operate.
So,

• An elusive partner keeps you constantly texting and pursuing.
• Short videos and random games keep you highly engaged and constantly pursuing.

The dangers of addiction#

• Only interested in addictive substances or food, losing interest in other things like studying, relationships, and work.

  For example, children who enjoy playing games will keep playing and become addicted. Addiction gradually narrows down the range of things that bring them joy, focusing on one thing and losing interest in others. This leads to a decline in academic performance, strained relationships with parents and friends, and even disrupted eating and sleeping patterns. Eventually, due to excessive dopamine consumption, the dopamine baseline level becomes low. The usual outcome is that they stop experiencing dopamine release from these activities and fall into severe depression, which can lead to suicide.

• Eventually lose interest in the addictive substance as well, leading to severe depression and loss of interest in everything. For example, drug addiction becomes stronger over time and eventually becomes ineffective, leading to a loss of interest in everything.

• An addicted person lacks profound experiences in important events such as marriage, having children, and accompanying their children's growth. They find these experiences dull and uninteresting.

Dopamine: The Hidden Devil#

Some people think that if I work hard during the week, can't I have fun on weekends?#

Types of working hard and playing hard#

After living this way for a few years, you might say, "I feel exhausted. I don't have the same energy as before."

The real reason is that within a week, they experience a surge in dopamine through various activities, causing their baseline level to gradually decrease.

Who stole my happiness?#

If we are always with the people we like and doing what we love, it loses its stimulating effect and we feel less excited.

For example, if you enjoy running, but you bring your phone with you, you will find that running is no longer as enjoyable as before. It loses its charm. It's not just a matter of distraction. You may even start doubting your motivation.

The real reason is that the previous running experience resulted in a significant increase in dopamine levels because I enjoy exercising and listening to music.

Some people feel that they can't be alone or go out without their phones.

In fact, we experience a significant increase in dopamine through our phones, but what follows is that it no longer provides the same satisfaction. It often eliminates the excitement and joy we get from other activities.

The hidden features of dopamine#

It can decrease in subtle ways.#

• Once the "low dopamine" threshold is reached, we feel unable to find happiness in anything. The methods that used to work no longer do.

Dopamine: The Balance of Happiness and Pain#

When you enjoy eating chocolate, you feel both happiness and a bit of pain.#

• The pain comes from the subsequent dopamine depletion.
• The balance of happiness and pain is controlled by dopamine.
  • It depends on how many dopamine neurons you have.
  • How much dopamine is ready to be released.
  • You can only release the dopamine that has already been synthesized.

Dopamine Hijacking#

Dopamine can hijack us, which is essentially the essence of addiction. We are kidnapped by the things we love.

Whether it's smoking, drinking, or scrolling through videos, they all initially bring us happiness and pleasure. But over time, what used to bring us joy with just one cigarette now requires a whole pack. What used to be satisfied with one or two drinks now requires half a liter. What used to make us happy with ten minutes of video now requires two hours.

What does this mean? Our happiness has been hijacked by dopamine. Watching videos consumes dopamine, and if you keep watching, it will keep depleting, leading to a "low dopamine state." Because you still want to experience the previous pleasure, you intensify the video-watching, thinking that you can achieve the same level of happiness by spending more time.

Center of Happiness or Center of Craving

Just like a classic experiment, scientists placed a small device in a certain neural center of a mouse that emits electrical stimulation.

Then they placed two buttons in the mouse's cage, one button dispensed food and the other button stimulated the neural center, releasing dopamine.

The result was that the mice died. The mice would frantically press the button that released dopamine, even ignoring food. In reality, the mice experienced excessive dopamine release and depletion, leading to dopamine dependence. They couldn't stop and could only stimulate the dopamine-releasing neurons like crazy, but their bodies couldn't handle it anymore. Consumption exceeded production, and they went without food for a long time. So the mice didn't die from pleasure, but from extreme craving.

In other words, dopamine easily creates binding effects. Once dopamine release becomes bound to a certain activity, especially an easily achievable one, it forms a path dependency. It becomes interested only in that activity and loses interest in others. This is especially true for scrolling through phones, which can release dopamine with minimal effort. That's why video scrolling is easy to get addicted to, and it only becomes interested in videos, losing interest in other things. For example, children who are addicted to phones may refuse to eat, sleep, and even develop oppositional behavior towards their parents.

We are the same. When we are constantly on our phones, we forget to do things like washing up, doing laundry, and household chores.

Befriend Dopamine#

Limit dopamine release and experience a happy life#

Dopamine release enhances our ability to feel happiness. Dopamine depletion is the source of our pain.

• Dopamine can amplify our ability to feel happiness, but it is not happiness itself.
• Personal wealth is limited, and so is our dopamine storage. It is valuable to spend money on important things, just as it is valuable to spend dopamine on important things.
• Today is an era of dopamine consumption. The dopamine in our bodies is like currency, and all activities in this world are designed to seize our dopamine. Money is limited, but the places to spend it are unlimited. So, our important task today is to protect our limited dopamine currency and use it for important things.

Do one thing at a time#

Frequently engaging in activities that significantly increase dopamine release (exercise+) will lead to serious motivation and energy problems after a few days. Some people feel like they can't be alone or go out without their phones.

You can try removing other sources of dopamine release from activities you enjoy. This way, we can enjoy them more and experience the activities themselves.

Learn to break the addiction to "food" and "phones"#

Have you noticed that the more you like to eat spicy food, the more you can eat?#

• But if you force yourself to eat something bland and then add a little seasoning after a while, you will find that the originally bland dish tastes delicious.
• Second, you can limit the time and frequency of using your phone or avoid using it before going to bed at 10:30 pm. When you are ready to take a walk or exercise, try not bringing your phone with you. You will find that even a simple activity can bring you great joy.

PS: Think about when we were children, we could observe ants for a long time. We could look at the stars until we fell asleep. Every day felt long and meaningful. But as we grow older, we feel that time slips away, and many things are rushed, especially important moments like graduation, the first day of work, weddings, having children, and accompanying their growth. We often rush through them, as if they are just transitions. In the hustle and bustle, we squeeze out a smile, snap a photo, and hastily end the moment. The form of happiness becomes a photograph.

But where is the content of happiness? I believe the content of happiness lies in experiencing the process, unhurriedly. Our ability to feel requires time to brew. Especially when we are deprived of dopamine by a multitude of things, our sensitivity decreases, to the point where our emotions haven't fully settled, but the performance has already ended.

So let's try to limit dopamine release, which is also known as not finding joy in external things and not feeling sorrow within ourselves. Let's be people who experience life to the fullest, savoring every bit of it.