Dopamine Rush Quotes

“Evolution doesn't give a damn about your happiness, but will use the promise of happiness (using dopamine rushes) to keep you hunting, gathering, working, and wooing.”
― Kelly McGonigal, The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It

“The dopamine, the deceitful dopamine, gives them a false sense of value.”
― Soroosh Shahrivar, Tajrish

“Because we’re disconnected from our Future Selves, we opt for near immediate goals or dopamine hits. This short-term seeking ends up costing our Future Selves big.

[Example of this, from comedian Jerry Seinfeld]
Late at night, I think, “Well, it’s night, I’m having a good time, I don’t want to go to sleep. I’m Night Guy. Getting up after five hours’ sleep? That’s Morning Guy’s problem. Let him worry about that. I’m Night Guy, I’ve got to party.”
Then you get up after five hours of sleep, you’re cranky, you’re exhausted.
Night Guy always screws Morning Guy.”
― Benjamin P. Hardy, Be Your Future Self Now: The Science of Intentional Transformation

“You don't need your wrist to ping,
you don't need your glasses to ping,
you don't need your rear end to ping,
you don't need your genitals to ping -

ping after ping after ping after ping,
and you wonder, why on earth are you so anxious,
why on earth you feel like you’re walking on eggshells,
why on earth you're consumed by foreboding!

That's what abundance does to the brain,
when you own more materials than sense -
that's what happens when instant dopamine is
religiously prioritized over genuine human bond.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Kral Fakir: When Calls The Kainat

“The cycle of trauma bonding with a narcissist or psychopath is biochemically addictive due to the brutal highs and lows and the unpredictable nature of the chaotic relationship. When pleasurable moments are few and far in between incidents of cruelty, this hot and cold behavior is known in behavioral psychology as intermittent reinforcement. The rare reward of kindness, affection, and validation is unpredictable causing dopamine to flow more readily in the brain than predictably stable relationships. This toxic love creates an addiction to the dopamine rush that has little to do with the merits of the person or the quality of the relationship. Research reveals that the brains of people reeling from tumultuous romantic relationships and heartbreak tend to show heightened activity in the same reward and craving related regions of the brain as in the brains of those addicted to cocaine and other drugs. This "withdrawal" effect is potent in romantic adversity and is part of the reason so many struggle to leave and heal from toxic relationships.”
― Shahida Arabi, MA, Breaking Trauma Bonds with Narcissists and Psychopaths: Stop the Cycle of Manipulation, Exploitation, and Abuse in Your Romantic Relationships