This week we’re talking about dopamine.

I feel that there's a bit of confusion about this topic. Maybe you’re wondering what does dopamine do? How does dopamine make you happy? How can I increase my dopamine? And is too much dopamine bad for you?

It's really normal to be confused about this topic.

If you search online about dopamine and how it influences us, you might find things describing how dopamine makes you happy, how to hack dopamine to be more disciplined and motivated and how you can boost dopamine to be happier.

But you may also find resources saying that we’re addicted to dopamine, that instant gratification is ruining our lives and that you should go on a dopamine detox or a dopamine fast and delay gratification.

So, yeah… If you’re confused about this topic, you’re not alone…

I want to demystify this a little bit for you today to help you better understand how the brain works and how you can stop fighting and instead start working with your natural processes more.

Calling dopamine the happy hormone is a bit misleading and I’m going to tell you why.

There are two sides to this:

1. what is dopamine and what does it have to do with happiness? and
2. what do we humans actually need to be happy?

— Resources mentioned in this podcast (I’m not affiliated with any of the resources that I share on the podcast, I just share them out of personal interest and to give you context about these topics)

📖 All in the mind podcast: Pleasure, pain, dopamine and the brain with dr. Anna Lembke: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/allinthemind/pleasure-pain-dopamine-and-the-brain/14043764

📖 Everything you need to know about introvert hangover (what is it, the science, and how to recover): https://link.chtbl.com/068-introvert-hangover

📖 Veritasium: What the longest-running study on happiness reveals: https://youtu.be/vSQjk9jKarg

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Learn more from me about healthy habits for introverts

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🎵 Andrés Rodríguez