DOPAMINE

THE CAUSE AND SOLUTION OF YOUR ADHD

TODAY’S EPISODE IS A BIG ONE BECAUSE WE ARE COVERING THE LONG-AWAITED TOPIC OF DOPAMINE.

I am not really going to get into how to regulate your dopamine usage or daily habits like in the previous episodes. For this one, I just want to educate you on what exactly dopamine is, how it affects you, and how low dopamine levels can cause ADHD. I am going to do my best to avoid dropping practical tips as it may detract from the knowledge and mechanisms behind the application of these tools. By the end of this episode, you should have a clear image of how dopamine is a massive factor in your life and how it may be contributing to the various symptoms of ADHD. This knowledge will empower you to tackle the enormous task of getting your life together in the face of ADHD, OCD, anxiety, etc.

Dopamine has often been described as the “pleasure” or “feel-good” molecule, the feelings that you experience as a reward for completing a difficult or challenging task. While there is definitely some truth to that, recent studies that measured the amount and timing of dopamine release have concluded that dopamine actually has a different purpose that is more associated with drive, motivation, and craving. In individuals with ADHD, there is evidence to suggest that dopamine levels and activity are altered compared to neurotypical people. Specifically, there may be a deficiency in the availability of dopamine or a reduction in the number of dopamine receptors in certain areas of the brain, such as those responsible for attention and focus. This deficiency can lead to the hallmark symptoms of ADHD that you may be experiencing. This means that understanding dopamine is a vital part of understanding why you are the way you are and why you do what you do.

TO PUT THINGS INTO PERSPECTIVE, LET’S GO OVER A RECENT STUDY THAT WAS DONE ON ANOTHER GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO ARE HEAVILY AFFECTED BY THE DYSREGULATION AND ABUSE OF DOPAMINE: GAMBLERS.

To help gain insight into this issue, a recent study measured the release of dopamine in individuals engaging with slot machines. To make the stakes realistic, they were all given a certain amount of money to start out with and were allowed to keep the winnings. What the researchers were looking for was the difference in dopamine release between those who won and those who lost. As you would imagine, the reactions to winning were much more positive. Lights started flashing, the sounds that you might imagine from a slot machine went crazy, and the winners smiled and laughed. Those who lost saw no change in behavior or reaction.

Given the mainstream understanding of dopamine as a reward molecule associated with the good feeling that you get when you win, the researchers speculated that the dopamine release would be much higher when the subject won compared to when they lost. As it turned out, the dopamine release was largely the same for both. The highest dopamine release actually took place while the reels of the slot machine were turning. This means that the most pleasure came out of the ANTICIPATION of possibly winning and went down when the outcome was revealed.

This is why gambling addicts will keep betting money even if they keep losing. They are not addicted to winning at gambling; they are simply addicted to gambling itself. That good feeling did not come as a reward; it came as a driver. You are not taking action for the “reward” of dopamine. Dopamine is what is making you take action in the first place.

SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ALL OF US WHO ARE NOT ADDICTED TO GAMBLING?

It means that dopamine plays a much bigger role in motivation and drive than previously believed. It would be more accurate and advantageous for us to shift how we view dopamine from a reward, like a dopamine hit as you may have heard before, to the motivation, drive, and craving to go out of your way to seek rewards. Dopamine is what motivated us to put a man on the moon. It is what motivated the Vikings to sail to unknown lands. It is what motivated Alexander the Great to conquer the known world.

This is not new information. The reason it may be new to you is that most information put out on the internet regarding dopamine, especially concerning ADHD, is written by those who are largely uneducated on the topic. It’s one big game of telephone. One significant article claims that dopamine is the “reward” or “feel-good” chemical. Another blog writer might reference this article and claim the same thing, so on and so forth.

Now that YOU are educated on what role dopamine really plays regarding ADHD (your motivation and drive), you should be able to see why low dopamine levels result in a lack of attention, procrastination, anxiety, etc. Neurotypical people (those with regular functioning, healthy brains) tend to get out of bed in the morning, do what they need to do, take care of their responsibilities, and it’s almost like they just breeze through the day effortlessly as long as they are not taking drugs or engaging in other disruptive habits.

Neurotypical people can do this because their optimal levels of dopamine and receptors keep them going throughout the day. Now, if you were to take someone who has a healthy amount of dopamine and somehow give them a dopamine deficiency, you can create many of the symptoms of ADHD in that individual. On the flip side, if you were to take a person with ADHD and provide a surplus of available dopamine and dopamine receptors, you can lessen the effects of ADHD in that individual.

UNDERSTANDING THIS IS KEY TO UNDERSTANDING HOW YOU CAN CONTROL YOUR ADHD SYMPTOMS.

This is because the cause of your ADHD symptoms is likely a low baseline of dopamine. As for the cause of ADHD itself, nobody really has an answer. My personal opinion is that it is a mix of genetic and environmental triggers that can cause it. As for the source of many of the symptoms such as the inability to focus, lack of drive or motivation, procrastination, we do have conclusive evidence through various studies that the symptoms are caused by a low level of dopamine in the brain. This means that by keeping your dopamine at an optimal level and keeping your dopamine receptors strong, you can begin to live an easier life.

This is what I have been working on for a while, just using myself as a guinea pig of trial and error, which has resulted in some interesting times and pretty ridiculous situations that sounded pretty good at the time but, in hindsight, probably weren’t very smart. Despite a series of unfortunate events, I am glad I did all of those things because it led me to Odinn Labs. Anyway, this episode is coming to an end. It was a rather short one since it was only meant to be informational since I will be referring back to what we learned here in future episodes, especially the next one since we will be going over practical daily habits to keep your dopamine levels optimized throughout the day. So if you would like to be notified, please give us a follow, and the next episodes will come right to you. Until then, onwards and upwards, over and out.