Dopamine

Very informative, Stuart.

For me, it’s not about caving into that voice that urges me to gamble in search of that Dopamine high, which you’ve illustrated in your post.

I second that very interesting and informative thanks stuart. Definitely agree on the love of walking helping massively and the beautiful sunshine today was much needed boost!

I think this is a great read and often when you find your new ways to create that dopamine naturally is when things one get easier but also the urges lessen, for me it's was firstly forgiving myself for my addiction, accepting it and moving forward and now I get my dopamine through writing, planning ideas for the future and daily presence with my family and colleagues I'm no longer a ghost in the room, I'm present and there for the people that need me

Hi Stuart,

I think this is a really useful share, as it is likely that there are many who are suffering with gambling addiction who may not be fully aware of the huge impact that chemicals in the brain have in driving this addiction.

Dopamine as a natural neurotransmitter, is a large part of our brains reward system. It is created to make us feel rewarded so that we do something again - in basic evolutionary terms this means things like eating, socialising and having s*x.  

I personally have always been a dopamine chaser - perhaps without realising it fully for a large part of my time on earth. I love thrill rides and roller coasters, have sky dived out of a plane, become a gym fanatic at certain points, walked miles and have been a seasonal runner, played video games, eaten chocolate (I do love chocolate), spent evenings socialising with friends.

But i've also had a lot of experiences with the bad side of dopamine which have hugely affected my mental wellbeing and brain function. This is things like impulse buying and shopping resulting in spending way more money than I have on things I don't need; binge-eating to seek reward and comfort from food, resulting in an eating disorder and being extremely concious about my body; doom scrolling through reels on social media, resulting in a complete waste of time; and the worst for me has got to have been the gambling - as you say finding a way to gamble, getting the money setup, pressing the button, near wins, wins, just looking at stupid scrolling slot wheels on my phone. 

In my recovery over the past 40 days I have pulled out a lot of unhealthy dopamine habits in an attempt to allow my brain to recover and get back used to natural dopamine reward. Gambling - stopped, Impulsive spending - stopped, I've removed all sugar from my diet, alcohol - stopped.

I've also then looked to replace these with more healthy dopamine habits - exercise, new hobbies and experiences, putting visualisation and regular tracking activities in place to take a moment and stop to record my progress (I do get a buzz out of updating my spreadsheet and sending £5 daily into my savings pot). Connecting and talking to people more.

I think the key thing to recognise is that it isn't an easy journey out of oversaturated dopamine levels which have been present and flooding the brain consistently. It takes real determination and persistance to let the brain recover from this, it is tiring and there is no immediate recovery from it. But little by little, our brains (which are amazing by the way) are repairing pathways and getting used to not being drowned by dopimine. There will be down moments and days, but there are healthy dopamine activities we can turn to, and I'd say exercise is the number one which will provide the quickest dopamine release. Eventually the brain will recover, it has been evolving for thousands of years for human survival. We need to trust our brains are doing what they need to do, and do our part in protecting our brains through this process. 

Fran 🙂

Hi Fran

You absolutely nailed it there. Been to the DIY store, bought a nail gun and a cartridge and nailed that 40 days and this topic to the door ! 

Kaboom

Thank you for this post and I'm sure it will help so many reading it