Dr. Lembke moves seamlessly from her personal addiction to romance novels and her patients’ struggles with sex addiction, gambling, food and booze pluDr. Lembke moves seamlessly from her personal addiction to romance novels and her patients’ struggles with sex addiction, gambling, food and booze plus plus. Her humility and vulnerability are quite moving.
We are all Bozos on the same dopamine addiction treadmill - so fascinating to hear more deeply the research findings on how the dopamine gets triggered in each case.
I wasn’t aware that deep concentration triggers the dopamine…so intense work and flow gets that dopamine drip moving, hence Work Addiction.
Also learned that gamblers become addicted to losing, not just winning. In the section on pain and pleasure, Lembke deconstructs the pain/pleasure paradox which explains so much about the bittersweet nature of indulging in addictions.
DOPAMINE NATION is useful, practical and tactical!...more
I listened to the unabridged audiobook, which was a hefty and annoying 19 hours. Sadly, it was 90% recycled Neuroscience 101. If you are a seasoned psI listened to the unabridged audiobook, which was a hefty and annoying 19 hours. Sadly, it was 90% recycled Neuroscience 101. If you are a seasoned psychiatrist, psychologist or any kind of mental health provider who studies and appreciates neuroscience, this will be a bloated review of what you already know.
I really like and respect Dr. Dispenza, but this book was very disappointing. He could have summarized the first 9 Chapters in five words: WHEN YOU'RE HYSTERICAL, IT'S HISTORICAL! He spent way too much time deconstructing the neuroscience on PTSD and how the amygdala gets hijacked, how the hippocampus gets overstimulated and all that goes on when one is triggered. It felt like chapters of a medical textbook were being read to me. Yikes. But I plowed through it, hoping there might be some gems embedded within the pedantic morass of this work.
Nay, Nay, I was hoping to learn skills, methods, tips and techniques to "Evolve Your Brain." Instead, this book was full of dry, granular filler on the way the brain works.
He gets 2 Stars for chapters 10 through the Epilogue, where he briefly discusses the "Rehearsal" process, his term for the visualization process. These chapters also sound like him talking, more authentic and lively.
Basically, in these last chapters, he is alluding to the fact that when we Rehearse our emotional reactions and use the visualization process we are activating an epigenetic phenomenon where we transform who we are. (He does not discuss Epigenetics, but that's what I'm hearing.)
In my work with Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Training (DBT), there is an excellent module on this technique called the "Cope Ahead Skill." But when someone has a deep trauma background, they need extra help to Cope Ahead. I am always researching more methods for this purpose.
To that end, I will heartily recommend The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, by Bessel Van der Kolk, MD. This book is chock full of excellent practical suggestions and will help you find a good pathway to healing PTSD, trauma, chronic depression and more.
In discussing this book with a medical friend who is also a fan of Dr. Dispenza, she said I should check out Dispenza's YouTube meditations, and some of his later books. Apparently, he shares more on the Rehearsal process in his videos....more
“By being open to suggestion, by letting go of my will in favour of the will of others, I begin to change. You can't think your way into acting differ“By being open to suggestion, by letting go of my will in favour of the will of others, I begin to change. You can't think your way into acting differently, but you can act your way into thinking differently.”
“This spiritual life, in the end it is not a choice, it’s what’s left when you run out of choices.”
“Intention and attention, they say. Where your attention goes, so shall you become. As you intend to be, so shall you be.”
I listened to this book with fear and fascination. As a veteran of several 12-Step programs, I was sometimes entertained by Brand's interpretation of the Steps, and his spin on the sponsorship process. But I was also concerned that he broke one of the 12 Traditions, #11: "Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films." The fact that Brand was NAMING his sponsors and discussing his sobriety in this way felt like a betrayal of sorts. I've been a fan of his comedy work for years...so now I am looking at his writing and noticing other factors which create a more complicated feeling about him.
I'm sure he has good intentions - or perhaps he's just capitalizing on his Recovery Process? He openly talks about his Messianic Complex, and how he would like to save the world. Plus he talks about his jealousy of Saints!
As a clinician, I don't dare diagnose him from afar, but honestly, this book is some kind of cockalocka coocoo puff concoction. (I get the sense that Brand would love to start his own 12 Step program and do it HIS WAY.)
All that said, I enjoyed this wild romp - at times - and feel that his positive message of BEING VULNERABLE to accept help is a good one.
Three Stars given because he broke the 11th Tradition and lifted a ton of material from the 12 Step programs....more
This was a powerful story, full of wrenching codependent nightmares with domestic violence and verbal abuse - encased in a gorgeous Alaskan adventure This was a powerful story, full of wrenching codependent nightmares with domestic violence and verbal abuse - encased in a gorgeous Alaskan adventure story - and love story - which was very worthwhile. No spoilers, but the ending was such a surprise, and quite beautiful...more