Latest Book Review: Dopamine Nation, by Dr. Anna Lembke

I don't mind admitting but I have a bit of a problem with work addiction. I love what I do and give a great deal of energy, time and enthusiasm to it as a result. I see what I do as a calling not just something to earn a living from. But that comes at a cost, and sometimes that cost is greater than it needs to be. On occasion, i'm prone to forgetting that work and life is about balance. Each person has their own version of what that balance should look like but when the scale tips too far, we (I) are prone to some really destructive processes.

Unsurprisingly then, Dr. Anna Lembke's book on modern day addiction was quite the enticing read for me.

In the nearly five decades I've been on this planet now, I've seen unprecedented change. The birth of the internet, smart phones, e-commerce, globalisation, AI. The speed of change has been dramatic to say the least.

With that change came access. Everything we want has become a click-away.

As Lembke says in her book, "In today’s dopamine-rich ecosystem, we’ve all become primed for immediate gratification. We want to buy something, and the next day it shows up on our doorstep. We want to know something, and the next second the answer appears on our screen."

"We’ve transformed the world from a place of scarcity to a place of overwhelming abundance" as she goes onto say.

Little wonder then that she poses the question over whether we are losing our knack for patience.

A significant point the book seems to land (or at least one which landed with me) is the need for increased self-awareness and greater self-regulation in a world designed for modern-day addiction.

She points out the need for time away from technology and the increased need for exercise and self-care.

Lembke highlights the importance of regularly checking-in with self to see if we're getting the balance right and whether any course correction is needed.

Like she describes in the closing pages of the book, humans are drawn to any number of pleasurable forms of escape available today. Yet at the same time, we all desire a respite from that noisy, intrusive, dopamine-fuelled world we inhabit.

"A break from the impossible standards we often set ourselves and others" as Lembke says.

We need to allow ourselves to be bored again, as Lembke puts it. Because boredom isn’t necessarily “boring.” It creates the space for new thoughts to form. Without it, we remain trapped in a cycle of endlessly reaching for and reacting to the stimuli around us.

I regularly talk to clients about the importance of creating “white space” - time spent doing very little, allowing creativity and curiosity to form. Yet I’m often guilty of not practicing what I preach.

Perhaps that’s the uncomfortable lesson this book held up for me. That all important look in the mirror we occasionally need.

When we see our work as a calling, doing nothing can feel like wasted time. But perhaps being our best sometimes requires us to do less, not more.