![]() Your medical practitioner may be able to help you address dopamine imbalances, substance use disorder, and underlying health conditions with medications. Family can act as positive motivators and individuals whose family members are involved in their recovery experience fewer and less severe relapses.Įxercise, getting enough sleep, healthy diet, mindfulness, massage therapy, and yoga may help manage stress and reduce the risk of relapse. Studies show that maintaining social support is an important part of recovery. Understanding your triggers can help you plan what to do when you encounter them.Īddictive behaviors and substance use disorders can be serious and difficult to recover from without help. Triggers may include things like stress, or people you used to use substances with. ![]() Triggers, both emotional and environmental, may remind you of an addictive behavior or substance and cause a relapse. If you have substance use disorder, it can be dangerous to stop abruptly. In the case of excessive social media use, you may want to set a time limit on social media apps or block apps on your work computer. To help maintain moderation after the pause, it is recommended that you utilize physical distance and/or time limits. After that period, it may be easier to re-incorporate the activity in moderation. Anna Lembke, a 30-day break from the addictive behavior can help restore dopamine balance. The following are strategies that can help address addictions:Īccording to Dr. Though addictive behaviors can harmfully alter the brain, effective interventions ( such as cognitive behavioral therapy and operant conditioning) can reprogram the brain with healthier habits. Our brains possess something called neuroplasticity, which is the ability to change in response to experiences. Medication and/or therapy may be needed to address dopamine deficiency, but it is suggested that engaging in relaxing activities and eating a diet high in magnesium and tyrosine may help. Some health conditions, including depression, restless leg syndrome, and Parkinson’s disease, are also associated with dopamine deficiency. Not feeling pleasure from things you used to enjoy The symptoms of dopamine deficiency can include:įeeling anxious, irritable, hopeless, and/or tiredĭifficulty concentrating and other cognitive changes Anna Lembke, the altered brain creates a new type of balance by counteracting massive surges of dopamine with massive drops (called a “comedown”). Though these activities may temporarily release a large amount of dopamine, dopamine drops below baseline levels when the activities are stopped. It may sound counter-intuitive, but behaviors that drive large releases of dopamine can cause dopamine deficiency. This causes tolerance, particularly in the case of substance use, which drives people to use larger amounts of substances to achieve the same feeling.Īt the same time, the brain becomes more sensitive to feelings of discomfort and anxiety, which further drives people to seek dopamine-releasing activities that will temporarily relieve negative feelings. Over time, repeated engagement in the activities that drive very large releases of dopamine can physically alter the brain, damaging neurons and making them less sensitive to dopamine. ![]() The neural pathways in the brain were not designed to manage massive, repeated influxes of dopamine.Įxcessive release of dopamine can over-stimulate the brain. ![]() ![]() Natural dopamine rewards are approximately 10 times smaller than the flood of dopamine triggered by many addictive substances.
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