Something You Should Know

How Pleasure Makes People Miserable & How Weight Loss Really Works

5 snips
Oct 31, 2024
Anna Lembke, a psychiatrist and author of Dopamine Nation, discusses how modern life’s abundance of pleasure can lead to misery, emphasizing that our brains are not wired for constant gratification. She explores the dangers of indulgence, particularly its addiction-like effects. Robert Davis, an award-winning health journalist, debunks myths about weight loss, examining why our obsession with dieting clashes with misleading industry narratives. Together, they highlight the importance of discomfort for long-term well-being and the complexities behind effective weight management.
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INSIGHT

Brains Were Built For Scarcity

  • Human brains evolved for scarcity and not for abundant modern pleasures.
  • That mismatch contributes to rising anxiety, depression, and unhappiness.
INSIGHT

The Pleasure–Pain Balance Explains Craving

  • The brain uses an opponent-process to keep pleasure and pain balanced.
  • Repeated high pleasure causes neuroadaptation that tilts the balance toward pain and withdrawal.
ADVICE

Test Dependence With Short Abstinence

  • Try a period of abstinence from a highly rewarding behavior to test dependence.
  • Notice withdrawal symptoms like anxiety, irritability, insomnia, depression, and craving.
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