Dopamine Nation

Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence

By: Dr. Anna Lembke

Narrated by: Dr. Anna Lembke

Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES and LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER

“Brilliant . . . riveting, scary, cogent, and cleverly argued.”—Beth Macy, author of Dopesick, as heard on Fresh Air

This book is about pleasure. It’s also about pain. Most important, it’s about how to find the delicate balance between the two, and why now more than ever finding balance is essential. We’re living in a time of unprecedented access to high-reward, high-dopamine stimuli: drugs, food, news, gambling, shopping, gaming, texting, sexting, Facebooking, Instagramming, YouTubing, tweeting . . . The increased numbers, variety, and potency is staggering. The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for a wired generation. As such we’ve all become vulnerable to compulsive overconsumption.

In Dopamine Nation, Dr. Anna Lembke, psychiatrist and author, explores the exciting new scientific discoveries that explain why the relentless pursuit of pleasure leads to pain . . . and what to do about it. Condensing complex neuroscience into easy-to-understand metaphors, Lembke illustrates how finding contentment and connectedness means keeping dopamine in check. The lived experiences of her patients are the gripping fabric of her narrative. Their riveting stories of suffering and redemption give us all hope for managing our consumption and transforming our lives. In essence, Dopamine Nation shows that the secret to finding balance is combining the science of desire with the wisdom of recovery.

©2021 Dr. Anna Lembke (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Anna Lembke deeply understands an experience I hear about often in the therapy room at the nexus between our modern addictions and our primal brains. Her stories of guiding people to find a healthy balance between pleasure and pain have the power to transform your life.” (Lori Gottlieb, “Dear Therapist” columnist at The Atlantic, New York Times best-selling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone)

“Just when you thought you knew all you needed to know about the addiction crisis, along comes Dr. Anna Lembke with her second brilliant book on the topic—this one not about a drug but about the most powerful chemical of all: the dopamine that rules the pain and pleasure centers of our minds. In an era of overconsumption and instant gratification, Dopamine Nation explains the personal and societal price of being ruled by the next fix—and how to manage it. No matter what you might find yourself over-indulging in—from the internet to food to work to sex—you’ll find this book riveting, scary, cogent, and cleverly argued. Lembke weaves patient stories with research, in a voice that’s as empathetic as it is clear-eyed.” (Beth Macy, author of Washington Post Best Book of the Year, New York Times Notable Book of 2018, and best seller Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America)

“We all desire a break from our routines and those parts of life that upset us. What if, instead of trying to escape these things, we learn to turn toward them, to reach a peaceful harmony with our selves and the people we share our lives with? Lembke has written a book that radically changes the way we think about mental illness, pleasure, pain, reward, and stress. Turn toward it. You’ll be happy you did.” (Daniel Levitin, New York Times best-selling author of The Organized Mind and Successful Aging)

"Explore[s] the dichotomy between seeking a readily accessible hit of dopamine—from our phones, gambling, or a bag of Fritos—and maintaining healthy, productive, stable lives.” (The New York Times, Inside the Best-Seller List)

Good Read for all life in general

Anna Lempke is down to earth,compassionate and practical. Her advice, brought on by clinical study through years and years of experience, helps us learn to enjoy life, in it’s most pure unfettered form, in an age of exuberance, is profound and eye opening. If you, or anyone you know experience mental health issues, or addiction, this book is for you. If you live in America or any other first world country, this book is also for you.

A++ bustin on god....respectfully 🙏

Really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. I really like when a book is narrated by the author especially this one. what a great job and contribution to humanity.

I never review anything…

… but this book changes everything! I feel this work has universal appeal… can apply to literally everyone… even those who don’t view themselves as, “afflicted“ in any way. I plowed through it… couldn’t stop listening to the very end and I know I’ll be reviewing its pages for years to come. It’s a masterpiece of human observation… chock-full of 1 aha moment after the other and nodding of your head in acknowledgment... (warning… whether it feels good or not )! It explains so much about the current state of things of our human race in such overloaded and tumultuous times… a guidebook for inner peace. I especially appreciated the authors anecdotes of her own struggles and those of her patients, which gives the book a genuinely personal feel. Thank you Dr. Lembke for authoring, publishing and self narrating this profoundly excellent work! Time for me to get to work on myself.

A must for your Audible library!

Informative and entertaining at the same time. Definitely one I will be relistening to!

Life shifting

As a person with a psychology degree and shelves of self help books, I thought I’d heard all of what I needed to about dopamine. This book proves that wrong. It weaves in the very real challenges our culture faces as an addicted, sad and privileged nation with science and practical steps we could all benefit from if we want to get off the hedonic treadmill and not as the author says “titillate ourselves to death”.

Very Insightful!

Each chapter was very informative. There's a lot that you can learn about the mind and how easily it could succomb to the overconsumption of dopamine.

A frightening state

Evidence of where we've come as a society. The frightening truth of what we crave. A call for balance in our lives. Extraordinarily told by the author.

BEST BOOK I'VE READ IN YEARS!!!!!!

Such a great read! I couldn't stop listening! THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE MUST READ!

Avoidance of Pain has Consequences

The main point the author tries to convey is the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain results in pain. Whether it being medicated to handle problem or self denial it’s all under the guise of running away from pain.

Great book… but why did the author other Jacob?

I really appreciated this book — it was deeply informative. The only thing that unnerved me was the narration of Jacob’s voice. Why did the author imitate Jacob’s middle eastern accent but not other patients’? I didn’t like how they othered Jacob. It felt really bizarre.