Essentials: Understanding & Treating Addiction | Dr. Anna Lembke

In this episode of Huberman Lab Essentials, Andrew Huberman interviews Dr. Anna Lembke about dopamine, its role in pleasure, pain, and addiction, and how it impacts our mental health and behavior. Dr. Lembke explains that dopamine is a neurotransmitter associated with reward and movement, highlighting the importance of baseline dopamine levels and how chronic exposure to pleasurable stimuli can lower these levels, potentially leading to depression and addiction. The discussion covers the pleasure-pain balance, where the brain compensates for pleasure by creating an equal and opposite pain response, and how repeated indulgence can lead to a dopamine deficit state. They also discuss strategies for resetting the dopamine system, such as a 30-day dopamine fast, the importance of truth-telling in recovery, and the potential risks and benefits of using drugs like psychedelics in addiction treatment. The conversation concludes with a discussion on regulating social media use to avoid its addictive potential and maintain real-world connections.