Dopamine Nation, Dr. Anna Lembke
Dopamine Nation, Dr. Anna Lembke
122 Rating(s)
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Dopamine Nation
Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence

Bestseller

Author: Dr. Anna Lembke

Narrator: Dr. Anna Lembke

Unabridged: 6 hr 11 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 08/24/2021

Synopsis

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES and LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER
“Brilliant . . . riveting, scary, cogent, and cleverly argued.”—Beth Macy, author of Dopesick,
as heard on Fresh Air

This book is about pleasure. It’s also about pain. Most important, it’s about how to find the delicate balance between the two, and why now more than ever finding balance is essential. We’re living in a time of unprecedented access to high-reward, high-dopamine stimuli: drugs, food, news, gambling, shopping, gaming, texting, sexting, Facebooking, Instagramming, YouTubing, tweeting . . . The increased numbers, variety, and potency is staggering. The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for a wired generation. As such we’ve all become vulnerable to compulsive overconsumption.
 
In Dopamine Nation, Dr. Anna Lembke, psychiatrist and author, explores the exciting new scientific discoveries that explain why the relentless pursuit of pleasure leads to pain . . . and what to do about it. Condensing complex neuroscience into easy-to-understand metaphors, Lembke illustrates how finding contentment and connectedness means keeping dopamine in check. The lived experiences of her patients are the gripping fabric of her narrative. Their riveting stories of suffering and redemption give us all hope for managing our consumption and transforming our lives. In essence, Dopamine Nation shows that the secret to finding balance is combining the science of desire with the wisdom of recovery.

About The Author

Anna Lembke is the medical director of Stanford Addiction Medicine, program director for the Stanford Addiction Medicine Fellowship, and chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. She is the recipient of numerous awards for outstanding research in mental illness, for excellence in teaching, and for clinical innovation in treatment. A clinician scholar, she has published more than a hundred peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, and commentaries in prestigious outlets such as The New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA. 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.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Stephen on February 22, 2024

I have written nearly a thousand reviews on this site. The review that I wrote for this book has gotten hundreds more likes than any other, and it was the most negative one I ever wrote. Rather than continue to spread that negativity, I deleted the content of my original review and if you see this,......more

Goodreads review by Cyndi on September 20, 2021

Oh this book could have been a 5, I so desperately wanted it to be a 5... But I just had a few complaints that I can't get over: 1. The opening shock-and-awe story of the man with the masturbation machine makes this book un-recommendable for lots in my conservative socal circle - which is super unfor......more

Goodreads review by Amir on June 29, 2022

Short Summary: From simple pleasure such as eating food to watching porn and using drugs, the desire we fill is fueled by a hormone called Dopamine. Consider a scale in the brain. Whenever we indulge in a pleasure-seeking behavior such as scrolling through the Instagram feed to using drugs, it's lik......more

Goodreads review by Riku on June 30, 2023

Sorry, but I can't take seriously someone who can read the entire Twilight saga four times.......more

Goodreads review by Samantha on September 14, 2021

This book did contain some valuable information (mostly for people who are pretty new to the topic) and I found it interesting most of the time, but I had some frustrations with it, namely: - Complete vilification of cannabis. No mention of how people can use it medicinally or in a healthy way recre......more

Quotes

“Anna Lembke deeply understands an experience I hear about often in the therapy room at the nexus between our modern addictions and our primal brains. Her stories of guiding people to find a healthy balance between pleasure and pain have the power to transform your life.”
—Lori Gottlieb, “Dear Therapist” columnist at The Atlantic, New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

“Just when you thought you knew all you needed to know about the addiction crisis, along comes Dr. Anna Lembke with her second brilliant book on the topic—this one not about a drug but about the most powerful chemical of all: the dopamine that rules the pain and pleasure centers of our minds. In an era of overconsumption and instant gratification, Dopamine Nation explains the personal and societal price of being ruled by the next fix—and how to manage it. No matter what you might find yourself over-indulging in—from the internet to food to work to sex—you’ll find this book riveting, scary, cogent, and cleverly argued. Lembke weaves patient stories with research, in a voice that’s as empathetic as it is clear-eyed.”
—Beth Macy, author of Washington Post Best Book of the Year, New York Times Notable Book of 2018 and bestseller Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America

“We all desire a break from our routines and those parts of life that upset us. What if, instead of trying to escape these things, we learn to turn toward them, to reach a peaceful harmony with our selves and the people we share our lives with? Lembke has written a book that radically changes the way we think about mental illness, pleasure, pain, reward, and stress. Turn toward it. You’ll be happy you did.”
—Daniel Levitin, New York Times bestselling author of The Organized Mind and Successful Aging

“Explore[s] the dichotomy between seeking a readily accessible hit of dopamine—from our phones, gambling, or a bag of Fritos—and maintaining healthy, productive, stable lives.”
—The New York Times, Inside the Bestseller List

“[An] eye-opening survey on pleasure-seeking and addiction . . . Readers looking for balance will return to Lembke’s informative and fascinating guidance.” 
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Fascinating case histories, and a sensible formula for treatment.”
—Kirkus Reviews

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