Dr. Anna Lembke

And there are a couple ways we can get back there.

We can just wait till the gremlins hop off and homeostasis is restored.

That is, not have more potato chips.

Or we can have more potato chips because that will get us back there faster.

And of course, you know, potato chips are yummy.

So that's what I want to do.

But this brings us to the second rule of the balance.

And the second rule of the balance is with repeated exposure to the same or similar reinforcing stimulus, that initial deflection to the side of pleasure gets weaker and shorter in duration, but that after response to pain gets stronger and longer.

In other words, those gremlins start to multiply.

They're now lifting weights.

We've got Arnold Schwarzenegger gremlins, right?

So this sense of like, I'm doing something pleasurable for me right now.

Yes, that's true because it brings us back to level position.

But in the long run, what it does is it drives us down to the side of pain.

And this is really key for understanding what happens in the brain as we become addicted.

Because if we continue to consume our drug of choice over days to weeks to months to years,

We then have enough gremlins on the pain side of the balance to fill this whole room.

And eventually they are camped out there, tents and barbecues in tow.

And then we've changed our hedonic or joy set point, right?

Now we need more of our drug in more potent forms, more potato chips, not to feel good, but just to level the balance and feel normal.