Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance In The Age Of Indulgence Quotes
"Am I walking too fast? Am I swinging my hips? Does my ass look funny?"
"Was I a better doctor then, when I knew less and felt more?"
"The tapestry has a coffee stain, but it’s only visible if you know what you’re looking for, like a Rorschach."
"Every patient is an unopened package, an unread novel, an unexplored land."
"We are all, of a sort, engaged with our own masturbation machines."
"Addiction broadly defined is the continued and compulsive consumption of a substance or behavior despite its harm to self and/or others."
"I’ve been a reader all my life. What was different was what happened next."
"What happened to me is trivial compared to the lives of those with overpowering addiction."
"Mindfulness is simply the ability to observe what our brain is doing while it’s doing it, without judgment."
"I began to see that I didn’t need to continually distract myself from the present moment."
"That I could live in it and tolerate it, and maybe even something more."
"Because it was the first piece of evidence I had that I was really addicted."
"It’s such a relief not to have to do that anymore."
"But now that I’ve stopped smoking, I realize how much smoking was causing anxiety instead of curing it."
"Insight that simply is not possible while we continue to use."
"For decades the wisdom of Alcoholics Anonymous dictated that abstinence is the only option for people with addiction."
"But emerging evidence suggests that some people can return to using their drug of choice in a controlled way."
"Not thinking about myself and my problems was a good change."
"But I’m not feeling good," he said. "I see you on a Monday, and by Friday I think about killing myself, but I know I won’t do it."
"You’re not a bad man. You’ve got problems, just like the rest of us."
"Self-binding is the term to describe Jacob’s act of throwing out his machine."
"By creating tangible barriers between ourselves and our drug of choice, we press the pause button between desire and action."
"External rules and sanctions, although necessary, will never be sufficient in a world where access to high-dopamine goods is practically infinite."
"The ability to not drink at all, or to drink in moderation like 'normal people,' comes as a revelation."
"Physical self-binding is now available from your local apothecary."
"Just as pain is the price we pay for pleasure, so too is pleasure our reward for pain."
"The key to well-being is for us to get off the couch and move our real bodies, not our virtual ones."
"I realized hunger is a notification I can ignore."
"I’ve learned to adapt, since this method of self-awareness seems to resonate especially well for the science-minded."
"I would never have admitted the truth back when I was drinking."
"I’ve done so much soloing, and worked on my climbing skills so much that my comfort zone is quite large."
"I’m less on guard. I don’t have to preplan so much to avoid interacting with people."
"Running wheels are governed by the same endo-opioid, dopamine, endo-cannabinoid pathways that drive compulsive drug use."
"I’m not suggesting that everyone who engages in extreme and/or endurance sports is addicted."
"I don’t really like the feeling of being alive. Drugs and alcohol were a way to like it."
"Honesty enhances awareness, creates more satisfying relationships, holds us accountable."
"To truly understand someone is to care for them."
"Shame is a maladaptive emotion. Guilt is an adaptive emotion."
"The antidote to destructive shame is prosocial shame."
"I’m able to quote Scripture but I feel no connection to the loving God of Scripture."
"In AA, I learned to accept myself and other people for who they are. Now I have real relationships."
"If we don’t like our patients, we can’t help them."
"The honest disclosure of a relapse to the AA fellowship augments club goods."
"The stories we narrate about our lives not only serve as a measure of our past but can also shape future behavior."
"When we engage in an active and honest reappraisal of ourselves, we’re more able and willing to give other people honest feedback."
"My kids forgave me and to this day love to tell the story about how I 'stole' their chocolate and then 'lied about it.'"
"Mutual honesty precludes shame and presages an intimacy explosion, a rush of emotional warmth that comes from feeling deeply connected to others when we’re accepted despite our flaws."
"It is not our perfection but our willingness to work together to remedy our mistakes that creates the intimacy we crave."
"We all desire a respite from the world—a break from the impossible standards we often set for ourselves and others."
"What if, instead of seeking oblivion by escaping from the world, we turn toward it?"
"The relentless pursuit of pleasure (and avoidance of pain) leads to pain."
"Instead of running away from the world, we can find escape by immersing ourselves in it."
"Prosocial shame affirms that we belong to the human tribe."
"Radical honesty promotes awareness, enhances intimacy, and fosters a plenty mindset."
"Anticipation and craving form a cycle that leads us relentlessly from one moment of wanting to the next."
"Homeostasis, the body's attempt to maintain a stable internal environment, becomes unachievable in the face of constant consumption."
"The pursuit of pleasure, paradoxically, leads directly to pain."
"Moderation, not abstinence, is the goal for many, offering a semblance of control over their desires."
"Honesty, painful though it may be, paves the way for genuine recovery and healing."
"The cycle of shame and addiction feeds on itself, trapping individuals in a loop of despair and relapse."
"Prosocial shame, when harnessed correctly, can lead to a sense of belonging and mutual support."
"The willingness to embrace discomfort is a critical step towards growth and recovery."
"Self-binding strategies, creating barriers to our desires, can liberate us from the chains of compulsive consumption."
"The joy of simpler pleasures becomes a casualty in our relentless pursuit of heightened stimulation."