Science of addiction

Biology, Physics, Chemistry. 23/09/10

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This is a conversation with Dr. Anna Lembke, She is Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic at Stanford University School of Medicine Dr. Lembke is a psychiatrist expert in treating addictions of all kinds: drugs, alcohol, food, sex, video games, gambling, medication, etc. She is also an author of the book "Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence". In this conversation we talk about What is addiction, how to detect addiction, role of dopamine in addiction, pleasure-pain balance, tools to avoid and conquer addictions and societal role to fight addiction. This podcast is important for not only who is fighting addiction, their family and friends but also people who want to have an aware and healthy lifestyle.


About the guest

  • 00:00:00 In this episode

  • 00:00:34 Cover

  • 00:00:40 Introduction

  • 00:01:48 What is addiction?

  • 00:03:20 Why do we want to get rid of addiction?

  • 00:03:57 Behavioral addictions

  • 00:05:12 What is addictive in substances?

  • 00:06:56 Are all of us prone to the addiction to the same extent?

  • 00:07:30 Correlation between age and addiction

  • 00:09:01 Role of parenting to avoid addiction

  • 00:10:54 Substance availability and addiction

  • 00:11:48 Spectrum of addictions

  • 00:12:36 'Find your passion'

  • 00:13:53 Dopamine and addiction

  • 00:16:05 Lives in Dopamine-overloaded world

  • 00:18:51 Distractions and pleasure-pain balance

  • 00:20:05 Culture of workaholism

  • 00:21:17 What does Anna strive for in the career?

  • 00:22:23 Her motivation in the career?

  • 00:23:21 Addiction as a result of 'no sense of belonging' in the society

  • 00:24:49 Dopamine fasting

  • 00:26:38 Data on people leaving addiction

  • 00:27:45 Mindfulness as treatment for addiction

  • 00:29:23 When behaviors become addictive?

  • 00:31:24 Tools to use during withdrawal phase

  • 00:33:14 Replacing one drug with another drug

  • 00:34:22 Dopamine blocking drugs

  • 00:35:18 Use psychedelics to treat addiction

  • 00:37:04 Use of Hormesis (Intermittent fasting, cold showers etc) for pain-pleasure balance

  • 00:39:15 Maintaining dopamine levels

  • 00:41:58 Importance of boredom to maintain dopamine levels

  • 00:43:45 Psychiatric disorders post pandemic era

  • 00:44:38 When to decide to quit?

  • 00:47:05 Seeking long-term pleasures

  • 00:48:10 Further reading

  • 00:49:40 Routine for Dopamine fasting

  • 00:50:52 Thank you!

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