Dopamine

Dopamine is the feel good chemical that we crave. If we have available receptors, and the receptors are not blocked, any stimulus will do. We are simple addicted to stimulus. It does not matter what that stimulus is. Sound, TV, work, people, music, food, drugs; the effect is the same; stimulation. Some of the stimulus, also have unwanted effects... food, drugs, alcohol, in addition to stimulus. We just want the stimulus.

So why are we addicted to the stimulus? Well it produces dopamine. That is just the nature of the human, we want more dopamine. Perhaps that is the problem, we need other method of stimulation, perhaps work, or thinking, writing, to provide ourselves non-caloric stimulation.

Or perhaps, we should just let go of the need for stimulation. Meditation. The ultimate in letting go of stimulation.   What ever the solution is, I do not think using chemicals to increase the dopamine is a solution, long term. We become resistant to the stimulus, and is that not the definition of addiction; chasing a declining effect of a substance. We can move on to a new chemical with greater effect. Cleaner effect. But that is just changing our addiction to a different drug. We need to get back to getting high on just life.

For weight control, we could fast for stimulus.

Perhaps we should just look at all this as addicted to stimulation.