Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke

Dopamine Nation

Subtitle: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence

Author: Anna Lembke

Genre: Nonfiction, Science, Self-Improvement

Publish Date: January 2023

Read: September 2025

Favorite Quote: With repeated exposure to the same or similar pleasure stimulus, the initial deviation to the side of pleasure gets weaker and shorter and the after-response to the side of pain gets stronger and longer, a process scientists call neuroadaptation.

Synopsis: Dopamine is all about the pursuit of pleasure, but dopamine also regulates pain. In Dopamine Nation, Lembke neuroscientifically explains the dopamine reward center and how our current environment of addictions feeds our pursuit of dopamine. Whether it’s big addictions like alcohol, gambling, and sex, or “smaller” addictions like social media, work, or fitness, everyone is seeking ways to increase pleasure and minimize pain. However, in a new world of abundance, we have too much pleasure at our fingertips, and there’s no balance with the pain. Our brains are constantly seeking pleasure, but to balance, sometimes we go too far and our pleasure becomes pain. Dopamine Nation explains why and how that happens.

Why does this book beguile? I wanted to read this book to figure out how I could better reduce seeking dopamine (food, shopping, etc), but I was left with more questions than answers. There was one short chapter shoved in the middle of the book about doing a four-week dopamine fast: quit cold-turkey the thing you’re addicted to (unless it’s substance-based, in which case, you need to seek medical help). The book started strong, but by the end, it seemed to be preaching the success and merits of AA. By the end of the book, I couldn’t tell if this book was about addiction and getting AA help or if it was about helping with more modern addictions like social media and shopping.

I recommend Scarcity Brain by Michael Easter - much more tactical, approachable, and offers solutions rather than just problems.

Bookshop.Org Link*: Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke

Amazon.com Link*: Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke

If you’re interested in this, read*: Scarcity Brain by Michael Easter