Dr. Anna Lembke

that they really need to get out of that vortex of addiction and get into some degree of recovery before you would even want to go tackle some of those early traumatic experiences.

that they really need to get out of that vortex of addiction and get into some degree of recovery before you would even want to go tackle some of those early traumatic experiences.

Well, if you think of addiction as a spectrum disorder, right, there's mild, moderate, and severe. And there's, I would even say, a kind of a pre-addiction state where we're all sort of dabbling in compulsive overconsumption. I would say the vast majority of us, like 90, probably 95%, have some degree of compulsive overconsumption.

Well, if you think of addiction as a spectrum disorder, right, there's mild, moderate, and severe. And there's, I would even say, a kind of a pre-addiction state where we're all sort of dabbling in compulsive overconsumption. I would say the vast majority of us, like 90, probably 95%, have some degree of compulsive overconsumption.

And, you know, if and when it tips over into what we would call addiction, there's not a brain scan or a blood test to assess that. It's not like, you know, switching a light switch and it's like, oh, yeah, now you have addiction. It's not like that. It's, you know, it's a gradual, often a gradual and insidious thing. And we don't, in fact, have a biological measurement of addiction.

And, you know, if and when it tips over into what we would call addiction, there's not a brain scan or a blood test to assess that. It's not like, you know, switching a light switch and it's like, oh, yeah, now you have addiction. It's not like that. It's, you know, it's a gradual, often a gradual and insidious thing. And we don't, in fact, have a biological measurement of addiction.

We base it on what we call risk. phenomenology, which is patterns of behavior that repeat themselves across time. And broadly speaking, the definition of addiction is the continued compulsive use of a substance or a behavior despite harm to self and or others. And so, you know, that harm can be very subtle or not, right? And it can be a judgment call.

We base it on what we call risk. phenomenology, which is patterns of behavior that repeat themselves across time. And broadly speaking, the definition of addiction is the continued compulsive use of a substance or a behavior despite harm to self and or others. And so, you know, that harm can be very subtle or not, right? And it can be a judgment call.

Yes, that's right. And to also recognize that we're not very good judges of that when we're chasing dopamine.

Yes, that's right. And to also recognize that we're not very good judges of that when we're chasing dopamine.

Exactly. And we're not very good at seeing true cause and effect, honestly, when it comes to these behaviors, which is why oftentimes people won't really see the harm until they've stopped using for a period of time.

Exactly. And we're not very good at seeing true cause and effect, honestly, when it comes to these behaviors, which is why oftentimes people won't really see the harm until they've stopped using for a period of time.

Yes.

Yes.

So I was in my early 40s. My kids were no longer little. I got a lot of my self-worth and identity from being a mom. And my kids were sort of entering adolescence. They were doing fine, but they didn't need me as much. So I had kind of a grief reaction, you know, in response to that was trying to figure out, you know, how to navigate this next phase of my life.

So I was in my early 40s. My kids were no longer little. I got a lot of my self-worth and identity from being a mom. And my kids were sort of entering adolescence. They were doing fine, but they didn't need me as much. So I had kind of a grief reaction, you know, in response to that was trying to figure out, you know, how to navigate this next phase of my life.

I'd always been a reader and in particular a reader of novels. In my own way, that was how as a child I self-soothed was to escape into the fantasy life of novels. But I never had what I would call a problem with it. And then one day I heard another mother at school said that she was reading this great book. It was called Twilight. It was about these vampires. And she was going on and on about it.

I'd always been a reader and in particular a reader of novels. In my own way, that was how as a child I self-soothed was to escape into the fantasy life of novels. But I never had what I would call a problem with it. And then one day I heard another mother at school said that she was reading this great book. It was called Twilight. It was about these vampires. And she was going on and on about it.

And I read it. And I can't tell you what it was, but it was just like the key in my particular lock. It was completely transporting. It just released a lot of dopamine is all I can imagine in my brain's reward pathway. And so I read the whole series and then I read the series again and I read it again. And of course, by the third or fourth time, it wasn't as, you know, reinforcing.

And I read it. And I can't tell you what it was, but it was just like the key in my particular lock. It was completely transporting. It just released a lot of dopamine is all I can imagine in my brain's reward pathway. And so I read the whole series and then I read the series again and I read it again. And of course, by the third or fourth time, it wasn't as, you know, reinforcing.