664. Kinky Dopamine Secrets: The Neuroscience of Addiction, Pain and Pleasure – with Dr Anna Lembke

What do kink, dopamine and addiction reveal about the human experience? In this fascinating conversation, Dr. Anna Lembke, Stanford Psychiatry Professor and author of Dopamine Nation, unravels the secrets of addiction and the delicate balance between pleasure and pain. We explore topics such as the neuroscience of kink, the psychology of addictive personalities, and how contemporary issues have reshaped our culture.

With thought-provoking insights, Dr. Lembke examines the hidden forces driving our behaviours – from the “drugification” of modern life to the surprising connections between shame, spirituality, and recovery. We delve into the psychology of craving, the lessons addicts can teach us about resilience, and practical steps anyone can take to avoid falling into dopamine traps.

This episode might challenge some of your conventional thinking (hello pain) while offering grounded, science-based advice for living a more balanced and intentional life – to make sure you get a bit of aftercare to ease the journey. It’s perfect for anyone who’s curious about avoiding addictive habits and enjoys a laugh along the way. Refreshingly human and deeply inspiring for all.

Learn more about Anna here: https://www.annalembke.com/ 

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Anna Lembke, MD is professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine and chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. A clinician scholar, she is the author of more than a hundred peer-reviewed publications, has testified before the United States House of Representatives and Senate, has served as an expert witness in federal and state opioid litigation, and is an internationally recognized leader in addiction medicine treatment and education.

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), highlighted in the New York Times as one of the top five books to read to understand the opioid epidemic (Zuger, 2018).

Dr. Lembke appeared in the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, an unvarnished look at the impact of social media on our lives. 

Her latest book, Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence (Dutton/Penguin Random House, August 2021) was an instant New York Times and Los Angeles Times bestseller and has been translated into 35 languages. It combines the neuroscience of addiction with the wisdom of recovery to explore the problem of compulsive overconsumption in a dopamine-overloaded world.

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