Understanding & Treating Addiction | Dr. Anna Lembke

This episode I interview Dr. Anna Lembke, M.D., Chief of the
Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic at Stanford
University School of Medicine. Dr. Lembke is a psychiatrist expert
in treating addictions of all kinds: drugs, alcohol, food, sex,
video games, gambling, food, medication, etc. Dr. Lembke is also an
expert in the opioid crisis, and the author of Dopamine Nation. We
discuss the biology and psychology of why people become addicted to
certain substances and behaviors and the key role that our
"dopamine balance" plays in creating addiction. We also discuss the
science and practice of how to conquer addictions, why people
relapse and how to avoid relapsing. Dr. Lembke also shares her
expertise on topics closely related to addiction such as community,
shame and lying and she explains why telling the truth—even about
the most basic things in daily life, adjusts dopamine levels in our
brain. This episode is an important one for anyone struggling with
addictions of any kind, for their friends and families and for
health care professionals. It is also for anyone who has defeated
addiction and is determined to stay clean. Last but not least, it
helps explain why all humans do what we do, and how we can all
maintain a healthy sense of pleasure seeking in life. Read the full
show notes for this episode at hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our
sponsors AG1: https://athleticgreens.com/huberman LMNT:
https://drinklmnt.com/hubermanlab Waking Up:
https://wakingup.com/huberman Momentous:
https://livemomentous.com/huberman Timestamps 00:00:00 Dr. Anna
Lembke, Addiction Expert   00:02:42 Disclaimer &
Sponsors: AG1, LMNT & Waking Up   00:07:00 Dopamine,
Happiness & Impulsivity   00:15:56 What Is
Pleasure?   00:18:20 Addiction, Boredom & Passion for
Life   00:24:00 Pain-Pleasure Balance Controls
Addiction   00:29:10 Dopamine Deficits,
Anhedonia   00:30:47 Are All Addictions the
Same?   00:35:38 Boredom & Anxiety Lead to
Creativity   00:40:35 Finding Your Passion Starts with
Boredom & Action Steps   00:50:05 How to Break an
Addiction   00:55:25 Relapse, Craving &
Triggers   01:07:40 Can People Get Addicted To
“Sobriety”?   01:11:45 Are We All Wired for
Addiction?   01:15:57 Bizarre Addiction  
01:18:14 Recovered Addicts Are Heroes   01:20:10 Lying,
Truth Telling, Guilt & Shame   01:30:40 Clinical
Applications of: Ibogaine, Ayahuasca, Psilocybin &
MDMA   01:40:20 Social Media Addiction  
01:51:25 Narcissism   01:53:30 Goal Seeking, Success
& Surprise   01:58:10 Reciprocity  
02:01:15 Closing Comments, Resources   Disclaimer &
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