Rolland Sarver's Blog: Celebrate your Value - Posts Tagged "dopamine"

Dopamine is a predictable behavior driver.

You will understand a lot if you know about this marvelous chemical. With a little observation, you too will become aware of what I call The Dopamine Conspiracy.

You don't realize it, but Dopamine has infiltrated many areas of your life. Without your awareness or signature this chemical is controlling much of what you do. From our bank accounts to our plans and actions, we just hand over the reins and go along for the ride!

What is Dopamine doing in this blog? Dopamine is a type of neurotransmitter, sometimes called a chemical messenger. Let's bring some serious awareness to this topic. Let's explore how addictions of any kind prevent us from helping people see their extraordinary value.

Let me mention here a book written by Dr. William Glasser.

Glasser, William Dr. Positive Addiction. USA: Harper Collins, 1985.

The writer explores real addictions that have genuine positive effects. Dr. Glasser looks at two particular case studies. Running and meditation. The author goes into great length about how addictive traits can have a positive connotation. He chose these two subjects because these activities are commonly known to be addictive. Typically, addiction generates a negative image. This book brings a positive light to a negative subject.

Addictions steal the show!

Addictions have a way of directing our priorities. Become aware of the messages you are sending. "My addictions have priority right now over you." This could be the message we are sending, which doesn't speak well to people's intrinsic value. Speaking a message to someone's value is like speaking a different language. It's easy to learn though, you can start by practicing on yourself! Go ahead, you have my permission to say some positive things about yourself. When you become more aware of your value, you gain a more empathic world view. You can better understand how your actions impact others and what messages these actions send.

Power is an addictive way to get a sizable dopamine shot. Making ourselves feel big and others small, always gives us a quick hit. Clearly smoking this Dopamine (Dope-of-mine) is harmful to others, yet I still find myself trying to make others look small in subtle ways. Take the time to become self-aware in this arena. Old habits die hard.

A common social mantra might be: we get our pleasure from your pain. This can't help anyone, only hurt them. Power struggles and meanness happen at the expense of the other person. We get a Dopamine high from such behavior. Although without this drama where would we get ideas for books and movies? The evening news would only air for about ten minutes, including the commercials! The Value Message coming from putting people down to lift ourselves up is naughty, not nice.

Addictions come in many flavors!

The truth is, we can be addicted to a lot of substances. Items most of us don't associate with addictions. Anger. Drama. Attention. Stress. Pain. Power. Sympathy. Shopping. What can you add to the list?
Is it the substance or is it the results? Think, Dopamine! Ok, if I'm hooked on something, alcohol for example, I love what it does for me. Sure, I don't like the hangover, but I like everything else. The numbing of my problems. The attention. The camaraderie. The excuses. I'm not addicted to the actual alcohol. I'm addicted to the effect and how it serves me.

Is it not the same with other addictions? My high doesn't come from the substance so much. It's not the power or drama or anger or being mean. No, it's the shot of Dopamine I can't get enough of. Crack is the high of choice for some, but oh so destructive. Yet for others peer approval, stress, anger or something else is the high of choice. Perhaps not so devastating, but an addiction, nonetheless. Again, no judgment here, just observation.

How about your favorite movie or video game? Not too many movies have an unhappy ending. You can endure the good guy getting beat up because you know in the end your Dopamine fix is coming. He's gonna come up swinging, he'll be just fine!

About fifteen years ago, I read The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo. Thinking how sophisticated I was for getting into the classics.

Hugo, Victor. The Hunchback of Notre Dame. New York: G. Munro, 1879.

Spoiler alert! Dopamine is not at the end of this book, not much in the beginning either. Just when you fall in love with Esmeralda, too! I have never forgotten when and where I read this book. I didn't want to get out of bed for a week! No, I am not kidding. This is how difficult it is to face life without my Dopamine at the end of the story. The Hunchback of Notre Dame should be banned or at least carry some warning label. Warning: Dopamine Deprivation Ahead! Incidentally, Quasimodo, the Hunchback, (one of the main characters) was rescued from infanticide.

Tragically not an uncommon practice in those days. I was more historically naive back then, but all I'm asking for is a little more Dopamine in my reading material.
Society is not well versed on how to deal with difficulties and situations which offer little or no Dopamine. What is your method of coping when the going gets tough? What happens when the picture in your mind is different from the reality in front of you? Where do you learn the skill set of coping? Where is the class in school teaching this? Problem Solving 101. Wouldn’t the world change if this class showed up on the curriculum next year? Sure, in the movies it all works out, but that’s just following the script. Our favorite actors always show up with creativity, solutions and a plan. How do you learn to think like this? How do you exercise your brain so problem solving skills are cultivated? Being afraid of success and an avoider hasn’t served me well in this area. I had to try something entirely different!

Ernest Shackleton and dopamine.

At the recommendation of a friend, I read a well-known survival story about an expedition to the South Pole in 1914. The captain and crew became trapped in the ice, seeking to explore and cross the pole.

Lansing, Alfred. Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage. USA: Basic Books, 2014.

This book made an impact! I proposed to reduce my many instances of complaining and belly aching. Furthermore, my meager happenings of gratitude needed to rise quite sharply. Any crown of perseverance I have ever mustered up, I lay down at the feet of the captain and mighty crew of that ship.

NEWS FLASH! Seriously! today 3/10/22 my brother sent me a text about Shackleton’s ship: Endurance. I'm not lying. He just heard on the news about Ernest Shackleton's ship being found at the bottom of the Weddell Sea, near the Antarctic Peninsula, in relatively good condition. I was ecstatic. Big, big news for me, this is one of my all-time favorite stories.

I also just discovered shackleton.com. This site has a plethora of Shackleton history and information about the crew members. The website also sells a line of clothing for your expedition. Shackleton is the name of the clothing line, how original! Durable and rugged, but the clothes don’t make the man or woman, don’t forget this when your boat sinks!
Here are some highlights from this trip lasting over one and half years. The ship, which did have a lot of food stores, became stuck in the ice. Also, they brought along a new kind of vitamin briquette which kept their teeth from falling out and aided their health.

-Twenty-nine men on board. Spent over one year stuck in the ice before the ship was crushed and broken up.
-Sailed three lifeboats over 600 miles to a desolate uninhabited island. Elephant Island. Seven-day trip! I can just hear the guys in the back saying, “Are we there yet”. Still to this day the island is not a tourist destination! Population: 0
-All but six men lived under the two lifeboats on said island for over four months while the other guys sailed on rough seas 800 miles to get help at South Georgia Island where there was a whaling village.

After landing on the wrong side of South Georgia Island, Shackleton and two others hiked over treacherous terrain 32 miles to the whaling village.
Fun fact, the men became consumed with thinking about food. Every night they would talk about one recipe. Talk about if they had eaten it, the different ways to do so and all the details; just like Bubba did in the Forrest Gump movie! Talked about all the ways you could eat shrimp. Do you remember the scene? The beginnings of The Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. Penguins doubtfully, was ever the food topic.
The only navigation system was a sextant. Which basically tells you where you are on the planet based on the stars and the day of the year. Sailors use a similar device these days, called a cell phone!

After the good food ran out, the only source of meat was penguins. Good thing they weren’t at the North Pole (no penguins there). Penguin fat was fuel for the stove.
When the ice got warm enough to be slushy, they could take a bath.

Also, I found two spiritual lines from this book to be quite remarkable. The first statement was this. The men credited their salvation to their Captain. Fondly telling of his care for them, his leadership and empathy for each one. The captain helped everyone care for each other. Kept them occupied with duties and entertainment, never losing hope despite such dire circumstances.

The second noteworthy statement was a compliment. After so many months at sea and over four months on Elephant Island their captain showed up with help. A rescue ship, able men, food, blankets and maybe some soap! Shackleton said he received the greatest compliment ever bestowed to him. His men said, “Captain, we knew you’d come for us”!

These men placed their trust and faith in their captain. They loved him and knew the feeling was mutual; not because he said so, but because he did so! Put yourself in the shoes or boots of those men on Elephant Island, waking up every morning subjected to seriously harsh elements, barely surviving frostbite. Can we grasp the mindset here? Not thinking, every single day truly sucks. Instead thinking This could be the day, this could be the day the Captain of our Salvation sets his foot down on this forsaken island!

Endurance.

Let me learn the lesson of endurance! When little Dopamine is to be found, we must change our mindset. Can you also put your feet into those boots and feel what must have been felt when the rescue ship came into view? A Dopamine shot of all Dopamine shots. The Value Message spoken and heard from their captain during and after this ordeal looked something like this: You are of incredible worth. You are worth any pain. You are worth any hardship. You are worth any sacrifice and any price. Your value is without question. I would give my life for you!

Learn the skill set of coping and problem solving when the environment is harsh. Learn the happiness which comes from long-term perseverance and struggle. Not the short-term shot of Dopamine.

For more information, do a web search on Dopamine Detox. This is an exercise in awareness and stamina. Just observing how Dopamine affects people is educational. Detoxing from Dopamine stimulants for a whole day will take a lot of umph. Honestly, I tried this for half a day once. What a terrible experiment, but it opened my eyes to the effect of Dopamine on my behaviors and decisions.