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The cover of Dopamine Nation

Dopamine Nation

Anna Lembke, 2021

Why does so much pleasure leave us in pain? A psychiatrist and her patients show how to find balance in a world of too much.

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10 parts, about 22 minutes to read.

Why read it

  • Argues that a world of easy pleasure tips the brain toward pain, fuelling compulsive overconsumption
  • Offers practical tools such as a dopamine fast, self binding, radical honesty and deliberate discomfort
  • Written by a psychiatrist, drawing on patients' stories, brain science and her own confessed habit

Who it is for

  • People who feel hooked on their phone, food or other habits
  • Parents worried about a teenager's compulsions
  • Clinicians and counsellors who work with addiction

What the summary covers

  1. A world of too much2 min
  2. We are all running from pain2 min
  3. The pleasure pain balance3 min
  4. Dopamine fasting3 min
  5. Binding ourselves3 min
  6. A broken balance?2 min
  7. Pressing on the pain side2 min
  8. Radical honesty2 min
  9. Prosocial shame2 min
  10. Turning toward the world1 min

Recommended by

  • Lori GottliebAtlantic columnist and author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
    Her stories of guiding people to find a healthy balance between pleasure and pain have the power to transform your life.
  • Daniel LevitinAuthor of The Organized Mind and Successful Aging
    Lembke has written a book that radically changes the way we think about mental illness, pleasure, pain, reward, and stress.
  • Beth MacyAuthor of Dopesick
    Lembke weaves patient stories with research, in a voice that’s as empathetic as it is clear-eyed.

About the author

  • Anna LembkePsychiatrist specializing in addiction medicine at Stanford University
    • Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford
    • Medical Director of Addiction Medicine at Stanford
    • Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic
    • Yale humanities degree, Stanford medical degree
    • Residency in psychiatry at Stanford, finished 1998
    • Awards for research, teaching and clinical innovation; testified before the US House and Senate
    • 2020 Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation Humanitarian Kelly Clark Spirit Award

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