Fight Addiction with Happiness

Some people self identify as having a food addiction, or a sugar addiction. I want to bring you hope. I want to give you viable tools. This post is for you.

This post is largely based off of the work of Dr. Robert Lustig, A pediatric endocrinologist (childhood diabetes doctor). His article about the 4 C’s of happiness can be found here.

Pleasure Vs Happiness

Pleasure is not a bad thing, but on it’s own, it can create problems. Happiness and pleasure can be experienced in tandem and can lead to healty outcomes. For the scope of this post, when I say “pleasure” I mean problematic pleasure, the type that is not very satisfying, and can lead to unhealthy outcomes.

Pleasure is associated with short-term, never satisfied, never enough kind of feelings. Happiness is associated with long-term, contented, I have enough kind of feelings.

Pleasure usually is obtained with substances – think food, money, drugs – but can also be obtained by risky, adrenaline-spiking behaviors. Happiness can not be obtained through substances.

Pleasure is often found through behaviors taht disconnect people, and is often experienced alone. Happiness is found through connecting behaviors – connecting to others, to a higher power, or even to yourself. Happiness may happen when you are alone, but often doesn’t feel lonely.

Pleasure can mask or even numb out difficult feelings and makes them worse. Happiness does not disconnect you from feeling your feelings, but can make difficult feelings feel more bearable.

Pleasure is associated with the dopamine family of chemical signals. Happiness is associated with the serotonin family of chemical signals.

Dopamine and Serotonin

There is such a thing as “too much of a good thing”. The dopamine receptor can get over used. Any dopamine receptor can get used so much that it “dies”. It is estimated that it can take 3 to 5 years for a dopamine receptor to regenerate. To avoid this long and taxing process, the dopamine receptors do a trick called down regulation. When they down regulate, the receptor becomes less sensitive to dopamine, and it takes more dopamine for the signal to register. Dopamine is important for muscle movement, executive function, judgement (should I do this?), and motivation. Dopamine seeking behaviors can lead to desensitization and can lead to states of not being able to feel stimulated enough, followed by more dopamine seeking behaviors to try to “just feel something” or “feel less bad”.

Serotonin balences out Dopamine. In flat worm experiements, dopamine caused the worms to go search for food, and serotonin was relased when they found food, and caused them to slow down and stop so they could eat. Dopamine in more social creatures seems to be connected to any and all resource aquisition, including social standing. Serotonin seems to be released when scocial animals find what they were looking for so that they can enjoy it. In my own body, dopamine feels electric and serotonin feels like a gentle warmth in my belly.

And wouldn’t you know it, 90% of a human’s serotonin receptors are in the gastrointestinal tract. So that lovely full feeling, and feeling like there is enough, really do come from serotonin being released. It’s intersting that in ancient times, certain feelings were described as being felt in the bowels.

And speaking of bowels, there is such a thing as too much serotonin – and it happens in the bowels. It is protective, but largely unwanted. As serotonin levels rise to a high enough level, individuals may experience nausea and vomiting. If the levels continue to rise, serotonin will “help” that person to “eliminate” – rapidly. Serotonin is also used in blood platelets to induce inflamation and staunch the blood when a cut happens, that way the platelets can do their job of creating a scab.

Balance and Meeting Needs

All this to say that, happiness and health is about balance. When we experience a loving embrace, it feels good, it’s supposed to feel good, we experience many chemical signals that help us to feel safe and connected. Social animals, like humans, have a biological need for social connection – love and belonging. When we eat (because that is super important to survival), the body is designed to motivate us to gather and cook/ process the food, and then enjoy eating it, and then stop when there is enough.

When a person’s social connections have been hijacked so that they never feel satisfying or safe, it makes sense that they seek more and more, but never feel safe, satisfied, or loved. When a person’s daily food has been replaced with highly stimulating, but not very filling alternatives, it makes sense that they will seek out more and more.

If you are dealing with that type of situation, know that you are not alone: and, know that you are not defective. Your body is responding to an unmet need. There are ways to meet that need that I will address in my next post on the 4 C’s of Happiness.