Carlos is a slave to his dopamine. He would like not to be hooked on the phone, but suddenly his dopamine takes control of his right hand, he irremediably directs it to the pocket of his jacket and picks up the phone with the intention of removing it from such a dark hiding place.
The dopamine that circulates freely throughout Carlos’s body has this gesture very well studied since he usually performs it several dozen times per hour. «Dopamine controls me», Carlos says to his friend while they have coffee. “I don’t want to look at the phone, but dopamine has me hooked,” he continues, “I’ve tried two detox methods and there’s no way. “I’m a dopamine junkie.”
While I finish my coffee at the airport and witness this conversation, I begin to write these reflections. Well, anyone who really knows about neurology knows that Carlos is neither a victim nor a dopamine junkie. Maybe Carlos is the victim of a thinking tendency that doesn’t fit much with reality but it’s going well to win notoriety and clients to their drivers, but not dopamine.
Saying that you look at your phone because of the dopamine It’s like saying you’ve had a car accident because of the coolant. Yes, your car has coolant, it needs it to function well and it has some very defined functions, but it neither causes accidents nor is it in the least involved in that accident that you had because you were distracted by looking at your cell phone while driving.
Something like that happens with dopamine, serotonin or any neurotransmitter that swarms freely through our brain. Clearly we all have dopamine. Well, not all of them, people affected by Parkinson’s disease have a dopamine deficiency and for that very reason – and some other reason – they are sick. In fact, the best treatment that exists today for Parkinson’s is the administration of L-Dopa, which will sound familiar to you and in case you don’t, it is a precursor of dopamine, that is, it is converted into dopamine in the brain.
If addictions to networks, gambling or whatever depended on dopamine we would all be addicted because we all have dopamine. Although the biology and physiology of the brain is important and even determining, psychological processes They are much more complex.
We know that dopamine helps us persevere despite adversity, but if you think about it and if we start to be strict, you have finished your studies, you follow a diet and you go to work every morning thanks to dopamine. Doesn’t it seem so bad to you anymore?
How can dopamine make you addicted, persistent and resilient at the same time?
Dopamine, along with others neurotransmittersbrain structures, perceptions, interaction with the environment, thought processes and personality end up causing us to do some things or others, but this is more like a complex alchemy than a single instrumental in the middle of a symphonic concert.
What’s more, we still don’t know how more than 99% of the brain works, that is, we only have a minimal idea of some very simple and simple processes.
An illustrative fable
At this point I love to share the fable of the six blind wise men Indians who are analyzing a elephant. One of them says that he is absolutely certain that it is hard, conical and cold while another counters that he is absolutely certain that it is soft, flexible, thin and warm. A third wise man is added to the discussion who says no, that it is hard, warm and strong like a great column, to which another gets involved saying no, that it is thin, warm, long and that it ends with a duster of hair.
Did you know? Well, everyone is right, but no one has an overview. Well, that’s how we walk psychology and neuroscience. I wish dopamine controlled addictions. It would be very easy to end addictions. A little pill that inhibits dopamine production and that’s it.
I hope the oxytocin I would control the hugs. An injection of oxytocin and the wars in the world would end.
I hope the endorphins they gave the happiness. An injection of endorphins and the sadness ends. Sorry, this does currently exist. It’s called heroin and as you know, ending sadness causes chaos in the life of those who consume it.
Dear reader, dear reader, do not blame dopamine for your behavior, do not expect the cortisol make your day bitter, don’t do anything to increase your serotonin waiting for it to change your life.
I finish my dissertation here while my endorphins They are having a party because of the pleasure I am having writing and the cortisol takes the opportunity to sneak into the party and ruin a moment of pleasure. I’m going to see if I can wake up norepinephrine to bring peace.
You can discover other tips from Tomás Navarro (@tomasnavarropsi on Instagram) to set limits on those people who harm us in their work’Your red lines (Zenith/Planeta) and help the little ones manage emotions with the book ‘Rita and the Golden Shell’, which he has written with his wife, Nuria Pablos. And also, you can read other articles by Tomás Navarro in ABC Bienestar here.
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