Pleasure and Pain: A Delicate Balance

We live in a time of unprecedented access to high reward, high-dopamine stimuli and it’s taking a toll on our minds and bodies. Today, Dr. Anna Lembke, Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic at Stanford University School of Medicine and author of Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence is here to help us maintain a healthy sense of pleasure seeking in life.

This episode has something for everyone: an overview of dopamine, an explanation of the pleasure pain-balance, an exploration of the impact of culture and social institutions on human behavior, and hormetic activities that naturally boost dopamine levels.

We discuss:

• How dopamine is involved in the pleasure-pain balance
• The role that serotonin plays in homeostasis
• Why a world if indulgence has led to dopamine deficits
• How flow states and human connections stimulate dopamine production
• Evaluating the risk-reward of psychedelics and dopamine mechanisms
• Leveraging hormetic activities to boost dopamine levels

Settle in, and get ready to learn how to maintain balanced dopamine levels in a world of pleasure.

Episode transcript: https://neurohacker.com/how-to-maintain-balanced-dopamine-levels-in-a-world-of-pleasure