Ep 133: Dopamine Nation – Best Selling Author and Stanford University Chief of Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic, Anna Lembke, MD

Today, I have a special guest, Anna Lembke, MD, a Professor/Clinical Researcher at Stanford University and author of the best-selling book Dopamine Nation - Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence. We dig deep into the behaviors of addiction and its relationship with the neurotransmitter dopamine. It is no secret that not only in America, but the world, humans are fighting what appears to be a losing battle with addiction in various forms. I hope that with the information in this episode, those battling addiction will better understand what is causing it and, most importantly, how to fix it.

Anna Lembke is professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine and chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. A clinician scholar, she has published more than a hundred peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, and commentaries. She sits on the board of several state and national addiction-focused organizations, has testified before various committees in the United States House of Representatives and Senate, keeps an active speaking calendar, and maintains a thriving clinical practice.

In 2016, she published Drug Dealer, MD – How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked, and Why It’s So Hard to Stop (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016), which was highlighted in the New York Times as one of the top five books to read to understand the opioid epidemic (Zuger, 2018). Dr. Lembke recently appeared on the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, an unvarnished look at the impact of social media on our lives. 

Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence (Dutton/Penguin Random House, August 2021), an instant New York Times Bestseller, explores how to moderate compulsive overconsumption in a dopamine-overloaded world.

Topics Discussed:

* A bit about Doctor Lembke

* What is the role of the Stanford University Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic

* What is dopamine and how does it affect our day to day lives

* How did Americans become addicted to dopamine dumps

* How does dopamine play a large role in addiction

* Doctor Lembke shares her own battle with addiction and her experience with Prozac as a young adult

* Why and how has America become addicted to drugs and fast food, and why is it on the rise

* How has a lack of disciplining children led to our current situation of it is “not my fault.”

* What is the pleasure/pain balance and how does it affect us

* Why is being constantly exposed to pain and adversity key for a happy and successful life

* Why does America lead the world in the consumption of anti-depressants

* The question of is it a “lack of self-care or mental illness

* Why do rich countries have a higher rate of “anxiety disorders” than poor countries

* Why are in the most pain and unhappiness even though being the most prosperous

* How and why the opioid epidemic caused far more pain than helping people deal with chronic pain

* How a drug like cocaine can alter the brains neurological pathways forever

* What is “Radical Honesty” the key for winning the battle with addiction and living a life of moral character

* How the way we portray ourselves in personal stories determines our mental health

Episode Resources:

* Doctor Lembke’s website and where to purchase her books: https://www.annalembke.com/

* The Simple Life Website: https://www.thesimplelifenow.com

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