Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence

This book is about pleasure. It is also about pain. Most importantly, it is about how to strike a delicate balance between the two and why it is as essential to strike a balance as it is now. Drugs, food, news, gambling, shopping, gaming, email, sexting, Facebook, Instagram, YouTubing, tweeting ....... The sheer number, variety, and potency of these sites is astounding. Smartphones are the hypodermic needles of our time, providing a 24/7 supply of digital dopamine for the wired generation. As a result, we are all susceptible to compulsive overconsumption.

In Dopamine Nation, psychiatrist and author Dr. Anna Lembke explores exciting new scientific discoveries that explain why the relentless pursuit of pleasure leads to suffering and what to do about it. Combining complex neuroscience with easy-to-understand metaphors, Lembke explains how finding satisfaction and connection can lead to dopamine suppression. The lived experiences of her patients support her narrative. Their moving stories of suffering and redemption give us hope that we can manage our consumption and change our lives. In short, Dopamine Nation shows that the secret to finding balance is to combine the science of desire with the wisdom of recovery.