Tim P

“By protecting our children from adversity, have we made them deathly
afraid of it? By bolstering their self-esteem with false praise and a lack of
real-world consequences, have we made them less tolerant, more entitled,
and ignorant of their own character defects? By giving in to their every
desire, have we encouraged a new age of hedonism?”
― Anna Lembke, Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence

“With prolonged and repeated exposure to pleasurable stimuli, our capacity
to tolerate pain decreases, and our threshold for experiencing pleasure
increases.”
― Anna Lembke, Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence

“A truthful self-inventory leads not only to a better understanding of
our own shortcomings. It also allows us to more objectively appraise
and respond to the shortcomings of others. When we're accountable to
ourselves, we're able to hold others accountable. We can leverage
shame without shaming.
The key here is accountability with compassion. These lessons apply
to all of us, addicted or not, and translate to every type of relationship
in our everyday lives.”
― Anna Lembke, Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence

“For a rat in a box, chocolate increases the basal output of dopamine in the brain by 55 percent, sex by 100 percent, nicotine by 150 percent, and cocaine by 225 percent. Amphetamine, the active ingredient in the street drugs “speed,” “ice,” and “shabu” as well as in medications like Adderall that are used to treat attention deficit disorder, increases the release of dopamine by 1,000 percent. By this accounting, one hit off a meth pipe is equal to ten orgasms.”
― Anna Lembke, Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence