ADHD for Smart Ass Women with Tracy Otsuka

EP. 369: Why Everything Feels Unsatisfying

4 snips

Jan 28, 2026

They unpack why constant stimulation like scrolling, shopping, or sugar leaves you feeling flat by reframing ADHD as a regulation problem. You hear the difference between dopamine spikes and baseline motivation and why novelty-driven hacks fade fast. Practical levers are offered: timed dopamine pauses, small discomforts as medicine, environment design, and replacements instead of restrictions to rebuild self-trust.

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INSIGHT

ADHD Is A Regulation Problem

ADHD is not a dopamine deficiency but a regulation problem with a "sticky accelerator."
Tracy Otsuka explains chasing spikes, not lack, creates dysregulation and unsatisfying highs.

INSIGHT

Pleasure Spikes Cause Compensatory Dips

Pleasure spikes trigger compensatory dips that restore balance and create restlessness or flatness.
Repeated spikes deepen the dip, leaving you stuck on the low side even when doing fun things.

INSIGHT

Wanting vs Liking Explained

Dopamine runs two modes: spikes (wanting/anticipation) and baseline (steady motivation).
Kent Berridge's wanting-versus-liking explains why wanting often outpaces actual enjoyment.

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If you feel busy, stimulated, but still oddly unsatisfied, this episode will explain why.

ADHD isn’t a dopamine deficiency. It’s a regulation problem. Tracy breaks down what dopamine actually does in the ADHD brain and why chasing it through scrolling, shopping, sugar, urgency, or constant stimulation leaves so many women feeling flat or burned out. ADHD brains don’t have a broken gas tank. They have a sticky accelerator. The issue isn’t pleasure. It’s how often and how intensely we spike it.

Tracy explains dopamine spikes versus baseline, why wanting outpaces liking, and why novelty driven motivation fades so quickly for ADHD brains. Drawing on neuroscience research, she shows how constant stimulation lowers baseline motivation and turns productivity hacks, new planners, and

systems into part of the same dopamine loop. This has nothing to do with discipline or follow through. It’s biology.

The episode closes with practical ways to work with dopamine instead of fighting it, including dopamine pauses, time bound resets, replacement instead of restriction, and small doses of productive discomfort. Tracy explains why confidence comes from self trust and why environment design matters more than willpower. Dopamine isn’t the enemy. It’s fuel. Learning how to steer it changes everything.

Resources:

Website: tracyotsuka.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/tracyotsuka
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tracyotsuka4796
FREE 3-days to Fall in Love With Your ADHD Brain training on Jan 6th: https://tracyotsuka.com/ilovemybrain
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com

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