Episode #195: Neuroscientist Explains the Hidden Cost of Dopamine Abstinence

Nov 9, 2025

Discover why going cold turkey on dopamine can backfire and leave you feeling worse. Explore the concept of the dopamine illusion, where novelty-driven highs lead to deep crashes. Learn how overstimulation shows up on brain maps and manifests in issues like erectile dysfunction. Dr. Trish shares her journey from overstimulation to rewiring and offers practical steps for restoration. Emphasizing regulation over restriction, she reveals how to reset pleasure pathways in your life for long-lasting well-being.

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INSIGHT

Dopamine Teaches, It Doesn't Reward Forever

Dopamine is a teacher, not a trophy, and signals what matters to your brain.
Excess external novelty floods and misguides dopamine into compulsive chasing and crash cycles.

INSIGHT

Chasing Spikes Creates Compulsion

Constant novelty produces spikes that drop below baseline, creating emptiness and a need to chase more hits.
This chase becomes compulsion: not pleasure but pressure and craving to escape discomfort.

ADVICE

Rewire Instead Of Just Abstain

Don't expect calm from sheer abstinence; the circuitry remains dysregulated and can cause relapse or flatness.
Focus on rewiring the reward system rather than only removing the stimulus.

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You quit everything — screens, stimulation, even connection — thinking it would make you feel alive again.
But three weeks into your dopamine detox, you feel worse. Numb. Flat. Drained.

That’s not failure — it’s feedback. Your brain isn’t broken; it’s withdrawing.
When you’ve spent years wired for constant novelty, cutting dopamine off doesn’t regulate your system — it crashes it.
Your neurons go silent, your motivation disappears, and your nervous system panics in the quiet.

The truth? You don’t need dopamine abstinence. You need dopamine regulation.
Discipline without regulation is deprivation. But discipline with understanding becomes freedom.

Neuroscientist Explains the Hidden Cost of Dopamine Abstinence 💻 Visit drtrishleigh.com to get your Brain Map and start rewiring for balance, focus, and peace.

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Hi. I am Dr. Trish Leigh, a Cognitive Neuroscientist, and Sex Addiction Recovery Coach. I am on a mission to help people heal their brains from porn use.
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