Breaking Addiction : The Dopamine Dilemma | Thomas Long | TEDxYouth@BIPH
[Applause] So, do I get the thing from Thomas? Okay. The first time I smoked was in my eighth grade when one of my friends gave me a smoke and asked me to try. I thought about it for a second and I took it cuz I thought that was cool. Just like one of the most hands-on Hong Kong gangsters in the movies. So, I took a drag. That was not what I expected, though. The first puff, it made me cough. My guts felt toxic and I was dizzy. So, how did I become addicted? You may wonder. Every time when I was out there, my friends, smoking symbolized toughness and uniqueness. And that's how you can blend into that group. Hence, even though I hate it, I continued to do it. I didn't know about addiction at that point and I didn't know about the doment systems in our brain. So, I got suddenly stuck with cigarette addiction and I couldn't quit. In today's world, there's many forms of addiction. And it is perhaps more important than ever for us to consider how exactly these addictions are formed, what their impact is, and how to prevent them from hijacking our brains. So, first, I'm going to reject the smoke by analyzing the impacts of addiction. Secondly, I'm going to throw away the pack of cigarettes by analyzing the causes of addiction. And thirdly, I'm going to put my vape in the bit by proposing some feasible solutions to all people suffering from addiction. Just like my classes, Mr. Wo told us that smoking causes cancer. And Mr. Lotz is all trying to teach us that top students don't smoke. Or even Mr. Foster. Jackson, you're not vaping in my class, aren't you? But if the smoking is bad, why are we still doing it? According to a study by China's CDC, 14.9% of the middle school students have been reported of the use of ecigarettes. And this number can only be higher cuz let's say if you do vape, are you going to tell teachers for their research attempt? So, so far we've covered substance addiction. But there's something beyond that, non-substance addiction in our society, in our schools, or even in our daily lives. One of the biggest challenges we face right now is social media. People are stuck and I'm stuck too. We are trapped in this overwhelming cycle of scrolling, lost in an endless loop on our phones. I can start scroll on Tik Tok for like five hours straight and after that it feels terrible. So what is addiction and why are we addicted? I believe most of you have learned about dopamine. Yeah, the tiny little thing in our brain that makes us feel high every day. And addiction is highly relevant to that little thing since we get addicted when we get high. This causes dopamine strikes going straight up all the way up. But the rise of dopamine is always followed by a drastic decline. And this gap is what drives us. It's the motivation that pushes us to take the next step. And I believe most of you have learned about uh maybe you know Andrew Humeman. And there's a very well-known metaphor for him. I heard it in his podcast and it goes like this. Our dopamine baseline is like a tank of water. And every time we engage in something that gives you pleasure, whether it's taking drugs, vaping, or scrolling through our phone, you are creating waves in this tank. And the stronger the stimulus, the greater the waves, causing water to spill out of the tank. Now imagine your dopamine level starts at a baseline of zero. When you take a drug, it spikes up like say up to 60. But the problem is it doesn't fall back to zero. Is that it crashes even lower maybe to negative 30. The drop is what makes you feel discomfort, withdrawal, or even pain. And at that point, your brain craves to leave. So what do you do? You seek the same high again. But now because your dopamine baseline is lower, getting back to that 60 requires even more stimulus. The gap between -30 and 60 is greater than the original gap between 0 and 60. And over time the cycle continues and each time the craving becomes stronger. If your dopamine level keeps dropping to negative 80 or even negative 100, the need to escape to a low becomes unbearable. The higher we chase, the lower our baseline levels going to fall, causing water to spill out of the tank and the harder it becomes for us to feel normal again without that external stimulus. And when we're scrolling, we're actually stimulating our dopamine system. These social media platforms are designed to hit us with high intensity contents, overloading our brains and spiking our dopamine levels. But here's the problem. The dopamine spike doesn't last. By the end of the day, when it finally stops scrolling, your dopamine level crash. And that's when the pain and agony kick in. You look back and think, I just wasted my whole day. I've done nothing. And that thought feels terrible. Your dopamine level has now dropped even lower. And this is what fuels addiction. Knowing that, how do we get away with addiction? Okay, let's be honest. Breaking addiction is hard. But you know what's even harder? Staying trapped in one. The first step of breaking addiction is by admitting that there's a problem. You have to be honest with yourself. Am I addicted to scrolling, vaping, or online shopping? If so, you've officially crossed off step one on the recover list. The acknowledgement that Tik Tok has had you in a choke hole for far too long. But simply being aware of the problem doesn't resolve it. You have to get a conceptualization of this problem, which is to say, you have to figure out that the thing you think is enhancing your life is in fact ruin it. The book I'm talking about here is The Easy Way to Stop Smoking by Alan Carr. And Alen Carr wasn't just some random dude who hated on cigarettes addiction. He was in fact a heavy chain smoker himself. Five packs a day, we're talking, bro, was as good as a chimney. But one day after years of trying to quit, he broke the code. And guess what? He quit effortlessly. No withdrawal, no pain, just freedom. So what was his secret? What he realized that is that it's not nicotine that drags smokers back into the cycle of smoking. It's the idea that smoking does something for smokers. Smokers believe that smoke can increase focus, reduce stress, or simply make life better. But here's the painful reality. Smoking doesn't necessarily relax you. It simply alleviates the withdrawal symptoms that has caused in the first place. It's like punching yourself over and over again and feeling good when you're finally done. And Carl says addiction is basically a trick our brains playing on us. And it's not just cigarettes. It's anything addictive. Vaping, scrolling, shopping for midnight microwave naturals. You're really not enjoying things so much as alleviating the withdrawal symptoms that it has caused. So what? Now we know the truth. What do we do about? Simple. We just fill in the voids with experienced with something that gives you pleasure but long-term and beneficial. And here are some healthier ways that I tried on myself and it 100% works out. Okay, the first method I highly recommend is exercise. I know, I know everyone says it, but exercise actually works. A brief workout in whatever form is going to rejuvenate you. Like for myself, I've been working out several times a week and refuse your dopamine sync efficiently and your lungs, they will thank you for doing that. Next up, we can also have meditation. Uh, this sounds boring, but hear me out. If you can condition your brain to sit still for like five minutes, you are already on your way fully getting away with addiction. Addiction thrives on impulses. You get a craving and before you even think about it, you reach out for your vape, your phone or whatever your go to habit is. But meditation trains your brain to sit still, giving yourself the power to say, "Wait, am I actually want to do this?" And finally, we can have cold showers and breath work. I I know what you're thinking. Why in the world would I step into freezing water? Are you insane? But hear me out. Cold showers and breath work aren't just about torturing yourself. It is proven to be one of the best way to reset your dopamine system and refill your dopamine sync and rebuild your mental toughness. Addiction is all about easy dopamine. Short spikes of pleasure that makes you feel good in moment but terrible later. But cold showers, they do the exact opposite. They're going to make you feel a little bit discomfort in the first place, but amazing afterward. Because at this point, your body will provide you with a neurochemical called endorphin, much stronger than dopamine. It's going to give you the high you've never experienced with dopamine. And it's healthy. The point is, breaking addiction has nothing to do with willpower. Alan Carr didn't stop using nicotine by sheer willpower. He stopped using it because he saw that there's nothing to give up. So the next time we reach out for a vape, scroll through a phone or impulse buy another pair of shoes, just stop. Not forcing yourself, but truly asking, "Am I actually enjoying this or am I just doing this to avoid feeling bad?" If your answer is the second one, congratulations. You just take the step two to a path of freedom. Now go to do step three and whatever that's going to make you feel comfortable. Thank you. [Applause]