False Pleasure
Your brain is designed to seek pleasure, and it doesn't care if it is harmful to your body.
In this day and age, there is pleasure everywhere, creating significant problems!
We all have negative emotions and the perfect way to avoid them is to seek false pleasure!
Most do not experience and process difficult moments or emotions, and why should you?
At your fingertips is your phone with dopamine inducing games, movies, and social media. If that won’t do, you also have cigarettes or sugary, floury snacks!
Unfortunately, all of these are socially acceptable activities!
When you experience high levels of dopamine, your brain thinks this is awesome and wants more.
If that doesn't do the trick, there are always drugs, alcohol, or porn!
All of these are literally with your immediate reach!
Your brain will never suggest, “Hey! Maybe you should process this painful emotion!”
It will always offer a feel-good modality instead!
When you continue to do this over and over again, you are building a habit, which enforces the neuropathways in your brain that think false pleasure is very, very important!
I like to go to worse case scenarios to paint a picture of how our brains work.
Think about a drug addict or someone with an addiction that is ruining their life.
On the outside, you may judge them thinking if they would go to rehab and stop doing the drug they would have such a higher quality of life!
But in this person’s mind, they know it is terrible and don't want to be doing the drug.
The alternative is to feel massive amounts of pain, discomfort, withdrawal, and negative emotion.
Of course, seeking the instant hit of pleasure is going to be way more seductive than long-term withdrawal and emotional pain.
You may not be worst case scenario, but your no different!
Most would rather experience the feel-good rush of dopamine when you consume concentrated food, smoke a cigarette, distracting with technology, etc.
It gives you a much higher hit of dopamine than small amounts from real pleasure!
Unfortunately, the more dopamine you give your brain, especially in concentrated forms, the more it craves.
You build up a tolerance for it.
When you continue to participate in false pleasure, you need higher and higher amounts of dopamine to feel good.
As this increases, the ability to feel authentic, positive, healthy dopamine decreases.
Your brain thinks false pleasure is paramount!
To make matters worse, when you avoid the false pleasure your brain experiences heightened negativity.
This feels intolerable!
Think about how strong your desire to seek pleasure is!
It's no joke to disconnect and dismantle the neurons in your brain from these types of behavior!
Breaking up with high producing dopamine behaviors and marrying low producing dopamine behavior is a shift you must be willing to make.
You need to retain your dopamine receptors.
The dopamine from life's real pleasures must be reacclimated and adjusted back to normal.
As you start to shift you may have no idea what kind of authentic, healthy dopamine producing activities your prefer!
Finding what real pleasures with no adverse side effects that you enjoy is possibly a journey, you've never been on!
When you are in the spin of dopamine highs, lows, deprivation, and then giving into false pleasure, you most likely have not spent the time pursuing healthy, fulfilling and enjoyable activities!
This process will take some time and some trial and error!
But with persistence and time, it is achievable.
If you don't find another source of pleasure, your brain will always offer false pleasure as a reward!
For most, healthy pleasure won't even feel pleasurable until you have stopped high dopamine producing activities.
A trap many fall into, is when you stop using one type of false pleasure you may turn to another unhealthy way of coping.
This happens with many bariatric patients who cannot eat anymore but then begin compulsive shopping or drinking.
Your journey of authenticity and realness will not start off feeling authentic at all!
This is normal but keep going!
Your brain and body need time to re-adjust.
Here is how your brain works!
Very high dopamine-producing behaviors with adverse side effects will always be a great idea according to your brain!
Low producing dopamine behaviors usually proceed with an "I don't feel like it" response.
I know that yoga, connection with friends, and other sources of healthy pleasure are always received from the brain with, "Nah, I don't feel like it," every time!
If you aren't aware of how your brain works you may most likely listen to it!
When your brain offers up these thoughts and feelings know this is normal but not helpful.
I didn't realize this and used to always try a healthy activity, and as soon as my brain offered that it was a terrible idea, I would quit.
Don't!
Your brain only cares about seeking pleasure and avoiding pain, not about health and well-being!
Examples of healthy dopamine producing pleasures:
Cuddling children and spouses
Hot baths
Stretching
Laughing
Connection with friends
Meditation
Quiet mornings with coffee
Great tea
Planning and going on vacations - Here is the truth, I actually like the planning better! The anticipation is always better!
Creating
Exercising
Fresh flowers
Getting to the point of feeling the slow release of dopamine is a process!
Living your life without false pleasure and adverse side effects, and experiencing well-being with authentic pleasure is the most amazing experience!