ADHD, Social Media, Addiction, and How Dopamine Controls them All
The problems
You're dreading a challenging task
You struggle to feel excitement
You feel as if you're swimming in anxiety and pain
You're fatigued often and easily
Your memory is failing you
It's hard for you to feel pleasure or fulfillment
You crave relief
The cause?
9 times out of 10, it's your reward center. Dopamine. You may also be experiencing significant anxiety and depression, as a result. Anxiety and depression, after all, are symptoms of helplessness, and a fatigued adrenal system CAUSES helplessness. What can you do about it?
Well, the first step is almost always the hardest one. In your case, the first step will be to eliminate or reduce things in your life that make it impossible for your reward system to function properly.
But why can't you just start adding healthy things to your life instead? Say you want to start training for a marathon and you have a 500lb weight strapped to your feet. Should you start running more, or remove the weight first?
Your first step is to identify the weights strapped to you, then remove them. Easier said than done, especially since we all carry different weights, and we all have our own ways of removing them. Maybe you're not even sure what your weight is? Here's a list of common ones:
Social media use
Gaming
Porn
Excessive screen time of any kind
Substance abuse
Overeating and/or excessive junk food
Searching for validation from others
Gambling
Do you notice any patterns in this list? They're all things which are easy to become addicted to...
They're also all things which USED to be much more difficult to gain constant access to, and use excessively. Our modern world has changed this. Human beings are EXCELLENT at creating convenience, and absolutely terrible at living with it.
Your body and mind evolved to thrive in SCARCITY. Scarcity is, almost without exception, no longer a concern for most people. Instead, we are now faced with the problem of abundance; something we have not evolved to manage effectively.
Whenever we experience pleasure and reward, our bodies and minds seek to return to balance. In this case, this is accomplished by downregulating our ability to experience additional pleasure and reward. So, what happens if we experience too much, all the time?
Well, it causes us to exist in a constant state of "rebalancing". That is, it reduces our ability to feel pleasure and reward until we achieve homeostasis (physiological balance) If we're addicted to something, then we effectively remove our ability to ever get back to baseline
This is where removal of the 500lb weight comes in. Removal of this weight will be deeply uncomfortable for most people, and may take several weeks for your body and mind to adjust to. The good news? Once you've adjusted, you'll experience life the way you were MEANT to.
Your helplessness, anxiety, and depression will decrease significantly, if not disappear altogether. You'll find yourself with more energy and motivation than you know what to do with. You'll think clearly and feel like the genius version of yourself. You'll crave life.