Dopamine Nation – Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence

Date: 2022-11-30

Book Authors: Dr. Anna Lembke

This book made me pause mid-scroll. Dr. Anna Lembke, a Stanford psychiatrist, explores why we’re addicted — not just to substances, but to everything that feels good for a second and terrible after. Instagram. Food. Porn. Even productivity. She explains that dopamine — the brain’s feel-good chemical — isn’t bad. But we’re living in a world engineered to overstimulate it, constantly. The result? A weird cocktail of anxiety, burnout, and numbness.

💡 Takeaways: • Pleasure and pain exist on the same neurological scale — chase one too hard, and the brain overcorrects with the other. • The best treatment for overindulgence? Radical abstinence, even for a short time. Give your brain a reset. • Addiction isn’t rare. It’s just become normalised.

❤️ What I Loved: • Raw patient stories that stick with you — including her own struggle with romance novels. • It made me reconsider what I reach for when I’m bored — and why that matters. • Practical detox tips that don’t feel preachy.

🤔 What Didn’t Click: • If you’ve never experienced compulsion or addiction, some ideas might feel extreme. • The clinical tone softens in parts, but it’s still academic at heart.

📈 Final Verdict: If your phone is your first instinct in the morning — read this. It won’t scold you. But it will show you the cost of constant pleasure.

Rating: 4.7/5