Practical Notes from DOPAMINE NATION

"Self-binding" and other strategies from Dr. Anna Lembke's bestselling nonfiction book.

After hearing Dopamine Nation referenced in approximately a billion podcast episodes, I finally decided I was going to download the audiobook and give it a listen. The popular nonfiction book is definitely worth the Audible credit.

Psychiatrist and author Dr. Anna Lembke explores one of the central challenges of our times: Never before in human history have we been flooded with so much high-dopamine stimuli. YouTube videos, texting, tweeting, TikTok . . . It’s never been so easy to access all these microbursts of pleasure and distraction. As Lembke puts it, “The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for a wired generation.”

While the entire book is full of insights, there are two key ideas from Dopamine Nation that have stuck with me a few weeks after listening.

Self-binding

When I wake up I try not to even look at my phone until I have finished my reading and creative writing ritual. I know that if I so much as look at my phone, I’m liable to start watching Instagram reels with a cute Golden Retriever or the latest outrageous news, and inevitably lose a lot of time to scrolling. For me, it’s better to have a simple rule: No looking at the phone until I’ve done some writing.

Until I read Dopamine Nation, I hadn’t thought of this policy as a self-binding strategy. Lembke defines self-binding as “the way we intentionally and willingly create barriers between ourselves and our drug of choice in order to mitigate compulsive overconsumption.”

The book argues that self-binding has become a modern necessity. We can’t expect outside forces to limit our own intake for consumption. Even if Congress eventually passes a law against social media use by minors (or restricts other high-dopamine goods), adults will still have to devise our own barriers and policies. The rules must come from within.

One comforting insight is that the concept of self-binding has been around for centuries. Lembke observes that we even have whole myths about it. Remember how Odysseus was able to pass unharmed around the deadly Sirens? He ordered his crew to put beeswax in their ears and tie him to the mast of the sailing ship. Instead of trying to resist the Sirens’ song, Odysseus saved the day by binding himself, removing the temptation.

“What fires together wires together”

I do not have a neuroscience background, so I was unfamiliar with the old mantra from psychologist Donald Hebb that Lembke laces throughout her book: “What fires together wires together.” The idea is that if the brain has a dedicated neural process, then practicing that process strengthens those neural circuits.

We see the dark side of this every day. It’s so easy to (unconsciously) train your brain to crave something addictive and antisocial, like passively scrolling social media or watching TV. “Any behavior that leads to an increase in dopamine has the potential to be exploited,” Lembke writes.

But it’s important to remember that we can also strengthen positive neural pathways. Lembke points to research showing that practicing radical honesty can reinforce the habit and make it easier for our brains to handle the next time.

We know that scrolling is addictive. Turns out truth-telling is, too.

---

Audible is releasing the audiobook for my novel The Editors on November 26. If you don’t have an Audible subscription, you can grab a free 30-day trial.