The Genuinely Interested Podcast Ep 116 Anna Lembke - Dopamine Nation
Anna Lembke is a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine and chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. She sits on the board of several state and national addiction-focused organizations.
She is the author of Drug Dealer, MD – How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked, and Why It’s So Hard to Stop, and most recently she released her second book, Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence, which became an instant New York Times Bestseller!
Addiction is a serious problem in the US. From the obvious - like drugs & alcohol - to the less obvious, collective addiction we have to technology in the form of video games, social media, screen time, etc. We are on the fast track to total dependence.
Anna and I discussed:
- What a dopamine deficit state is
- What is the clinical criteria or definition for addiction?
- How kids will be impacted by screens in 10-20 years from now
- Her part on the Netflix documentary 'The Social Dilemma'
- Why porn addiction is less talked about than other addictions
- Can addiction be used in a positive way?
- Why does pleasure diminish over time?
- Social media addiction
- The social impact of being online too much
And much, much more...
My Take: We are all addicted to something, constantly looking for our next dopamine fix. We can't escape technology but we can control what we use, how we use it, and how often we use it. Everything in moderation - easy to say, hard to implement - I know. This is an important topic to discuss, as addictions are currently ravaging the nation and the world on multiple fronts.