Post: #1

Cheers players!

I am currently interested in researching the topic of dopamine - the happiness hormone. I am particularily interested in drawing the connection between the dopamine release and its impact on human's mindset, particularily putting a human in a motivated vs depressed state.

I have found studies on this topic by Richard Depue, but I would like to find more information. Has anybody encountered this topic before and if you did, could you share the resources? Any psychological literature on the topic of motivation that you personally read and found interesting/insightful is welcome also! Your input will be greatly appreciated.

Post: #2

I will say, to me Dopamine is not necessarily the "happiness" hormone, more like a neurotransmitter that becomes excited when you are doing something that interests you.
Typically risky or competitive things will lead to rise in dopamine.
Also, it is a precursor to epinephrine - which will excite you even further.

However, chronically raised Dopamine can be a bad thing, based on the habits you are doing to spike it.
Gambling, Pornography, Drugs or Video Games - these can spike the hell out of your Dopamine, later resulting in a huge "crashed" feeling.
Possibly from neurotransmitter exhaustion, or a lack of available epinephrine. Not 100% sure.

The right way to raise Dopamine would obviously be from learning a new skill, completing a big business deal or competing in some type of physical or mental sport.
These will probably result in a less "crashed" feeling and will have longer-term life benefits than Gambling, Pornography, Drugs or Video Games. Although the "dopamine rush" you get might be not nearly as high or noticeable at all.

There are also unique life experiences, adrenaline seeking behaviors you can participate in that will spike Dopamine, if you are looking for the rush. Skydiving, Rollercoasters, Swinging/Orgies, etc...

On the topic of "Motivation" please read todays article on http://www.ReturnofKings.com @ http://www.returnofkings.com/84589/what-...-excellent

This article teaches you one of the harshest Red Pill truth of them all.
Motivation is fucking gay.
Smash that into your head.

If you want to become great or great at something, create a routine/ritual around it.
Motivation is FLEETING and won't always be there, however an iron-clad routine that you commit and hold yourself accountable to never runs away.

Post: #3

From what I've heard there isn't just one "happiness" chemical, there are actually 4:

Dopamine - Related more to excitement and anticipation (ex. When one is horny one feels a dopamine spike, but this fades AFTER achieving orgasm)

Seratonin - Related more toward an overall positive mood or energy - I believe people who don't work out or receive enough sunlight lack seratonin

Endorphin - Related more toward a feeling of relaxation or relief, this is the feeling one has AFTER sex, or completing a long day of work

Oxytocin - Related to feelings of love or bonding with another (ex. a mother breastfeeding her child releases oxytocin)

Post: #4

If you're interested in emotion neurochemistry, be sure to read up on the Lovheim theory of emotion.

Basically, Lovheim speculates that emotions are actually caused by mixtures of chemicals (dopamine - which is involved in psychological drive, serotonin - which is involved in feelings of well-being, noradrenaline - which is involved in attention and focus), not by specific chemicals, in the same way that colours are actually mixtures of only 3 primary colours. If you had to graph it on a cube, you'd get something like this:



For example, fear is a condition with high levels of dopamine (causing a high drive to do something), low levels of serotonin (causing severe insecurity), low levels of noradrenaline (causing a lack of aggression and difficulty in focusing thought). But throw some noradrenaline into the mix and you have rage - focused thoughts with the drive to hit someone who is messing with your well-being (by causing low serotonin). But then throw in serotonin into the pot and then you have excitiment - secure, driven and focused thought on something positive.

The wikipedia article sums it up nicely:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%B6vhe...of_emotion

Post: #5

Dopamine is not for happiness, it's related to pleasure.

It's the reward neurotransmitter.

You're better off looking into addiction, behaviourism, operant conditioning etc to get a better understanding of dopamine.

But really, what's the point?

What's your overall goal here?

I'll bet you want to increase your general happiness.

If so, look into Positive Psychology.

This will do far more for your long-term happiness that trying to tinker with a neurotransmitter that is only correlated with a subset of transient happiness.

As for motivation, that's transient also. Focus on discipline instead and building productive habits. Read the Power of Habit for more info on that.

Post: #6

I think of Dopamine as the motivation molecule, with test being the confidence molecule

Porn, Video Games, Screentime. All bad because they cause dopamine downregulation- your brain actually prunes dopamine receptors

The only way to reverse this is with exercise or dopamine starvation(basically being bored af with no stimulus)

Post: #7

Thank you for informative replies mates! I have now established a general direction of these studies.

Initially, the idea was to study the relationship between these chemicals in order to increase my productivity. I have understood that dopamine in particular is raised by either productive things (new skill, new car, new lay) or destructive things (new drug, new gamble, etc).

As a result of this preliminary research, I have decided to undergo an experiment. I will abstain from all easy pleasures, including alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, sex, caffeine (except green tea), sugar (except fruits), video games, gambling, etc. Point is, I will surround myself with productive things only for a period of three months, which will include sports, studies, work and whatever I find interesting to do.

The thing is, I am currently in mid 20s and the first few years after the university I let myself relax a bit. I used to be a tobacco smoker, but I have quit now, which I would like to keep the same way for the rest of my life. I am an occasional weed smoker and social alcohol consumer. Luckily, or due to my "work hard play hard" attitude, all these activities have not made a negative impact on my career and social status. I have a very decent job in financial services sector and am considered to be a hard worker by most friends and relatives, however I am finding myself unsatisfied with the current state of life and feel like I am capable of doing a lot more. I call it the quest to achieving "supersonic speed". Also, I really want to start finding pleasures in small things, like a walk in the park, a cup of tea with grandma or a stranger's smile.

I will post more information in this thread as the studies develop further and I start seeing progress. Thank you for your input players and till next update!

Post: #8

(04-28-2016 10:23 AM)ScrapperTL Wrote:  I will say, to me Dopamine is not necessarily the "happiness" hormone, more like a neurotransmitter that becomes excited when you are doing something that interests you.
Typically risky or competitive things will lead to rise in dopamine.
Also, it is a precursor to epinephrine - which will excite you even further.

However, chronically raised Dopamine can be a bad thing, based on the habits you are doing to spike it.
Gambling, Pornography, Drugs or Video Games - these can spike the hell out of your Dopamine, later resulting in a huge "crashed" feeling.
Possibly from neurotransmitter exhaustion, or a lack of available epinephrine. Not 100% sure.

The right way to raise Dopamine would obviously be from learning a new skill, completing a big business deal or competing in some type of physical or mental sport.
These will probably result in a less "crashed" feeling and will have longer-term life benefits than Gambling, Pornography, Drugs or Video Games. Although the "dopamine rush" you get might be not nearly as high or noticeable at all.

There are also unique life experiences, adrenaline seeking behaviors you can participate in that will spike Dopamine, if you are looking for the rush. Skydiving, Rollercoasters, Swinging/Orgies, etc...

On the topic of "Motivation" please read todays article on http://www.ReturnofKings.com @ http://www.returnofkings.com/84589/what-...-excellent

This article teaches you one of the harshest Red Pill truth of them all.
Motivation is fucking gay.
Smash that into your head.

If you want to become great or great at something, create a routine/ritual around it.
Motivation is FLEETING and won't always be there, however an iron-clad routine that you commit and hold yourself accountable to never runs away.

I just read the article about motivation that you mentioned and it further supported my decision to undergo abstinence. Thank you!

To all other players in this thread, definitely have a look at that article, the ideas there represent the very basis of manhood.

Post: #9

Any time you abstain from something that spikes dopamine, you're going to have withdrawals (headaches, lethargy, low mood).

You can counter this by supplementing with Tyrosine or it's precursor DL-Phenylalanine, which keeps your natural dopamine production up as you come off whatever it is (coffee/porn/sugar/gambling etc).

It may not counter the psychological issues driving that craving, but it will mitigate the physical withdrawals and low mood:

http://johnfawkes.com/how-to-cure-a-caff...-symptoms/

Post: #10

One thing I would say is, unless you are some kind of Doctor with years of experience in this area, then don't even begin to go pretending you can begin to understand this stuff.

People throw around the word 'dopamine' like a catch-all phrase for some kind of feel-good hormone that passes through the body. Great. It's always good to have a reference, but really, let us not drive this metaphoric truck too far.

Dopamine and other neurotransmitters, and the way they are created, and the way they are deployed, by the body/brain, are just too complex a subject for the average person to understand, unless they spent a good bit of time on it. Most haven't. Those that have are even more confused.

For example, most people think that neurotransmitters are created in the brain. Well, they're not. They are created in the stomach. The second brain. Or the first, depending on your point of view. Serotonin is created in the stomach to a ratio of 80:20 compared to the brain. I forget dopamine now. But who cares. It's not just about the big players Serotonin and Dopamine. What about the other ones?

Adrenaline, Norepinephrine, created by your adrenal glands, at the top of your kidneys. Fight or flight. Too little and you lose. Too much and you lose.

Your body is playing a dance. Your eyes see something and it sends signals to organs that trigger hormones that send signals to other glands that release chemicals that communicate with other parts of the body, triggering further releases and communication.

I haven't added much to the argument, I know, but I just thought I'd point this out for a bit of perspective.

Post: #11

(05-05-2016 05:30 PM)RichieP Wrote:  Any time you abstain from something that spikes dopamine, you're going to have withdrawals (headaches, lethargy, low mood).

You can counter this by supplementing with Tyrosine or it's precursor DL-Phenylalanine, which keeps your natural dopamine production up as you come off whatever it is (coffee/porn/sugar/gambling etc).

It may not counter the psychological issues driving that craving, but it will mitigate the physical withdrawals and low mood:

http://johnfawkes.com/how-to-cure-a-caff...-symptoms/

The idea is to understand the fundamental reasons behind withdrawals, which will enable me to look past them. Therefore, any additional supplements will be detrimental to the clarity of the experiment.

Post: #12

Heh well good luck with that dude... it's almost impossible to match up subjective experience to a particular mix of hormone levels.

Look at Rigsby's post for the tip of the iceberg on that.

Post: #13

Anybody on here experiment with selegeline?