Episode #94 - Dopamine Nation (Our Pursuit of Pleasure and Avoidance of Pain) - with Dr. Anna Lembke

The Vegas Therapist - Ryan Wynder

Dr. Anna Lembke received her undergraduate degree in Humanities from Yale University and her medical degree from Stanford University. She is currently Professor and Medical Director of Addiction Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine. She is also Program Director of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Fellowship, and Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. She is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and a diplomate of the American Board of Addiction Medicine.
Dr. Lembke was one of the first in the medical community to sound the alarm regarding opioid overprescribing and the opioid epidemic. In 2016, she published her best-selling book on the prescription drug epidemic, "Drug Dealer, MD – How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked, and Why It’s So Hard to Stop" (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016). Her book was highlighted in the New York Times as one of the top five books to read to understand the opioid epidemic (Zuger, 2018).

Her latest book, "Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence" (Dutton/Penguin Random House, August 2021), was an instant New York Times and Los Angeles Times bestseller, and explores how to moderate compulsive overconsumption in a dopamine-overloaded world.

In this episode we talk about the elements surrounding our "Dopamine Nation" This includes the Pleasure- Pain Balance, The Broken Balance, our society that is running from pain, the solution of pressing on the pain side of things, and finally the concept of Radical Honesty. It is a packed filled episode with something for us all. Dr. Lembke has a great understanding of all of these elements and shares them in a very real way.

You can follow me on Instagram @thevegastherapist or visit my website www.thevegastherapist.com

Check out my 14 Day Better Relationship Challenge by going to my website and clicking on the link.