Let’s take a look at the roller coaster 👀
Is avoiding pain impacting your ability to enjoy life?
Hello! This week we’re talking about dopamine.
In recovery, I was shocked by how bored I became by food. I missed the pleasure I used to get from restricting, planning to eat, and eating food. My disordered behaviors provided me with a ton of excitement, which I only realized when I stopped doing them.
Many of us get stuck in disordered patterns not because we can’t see their painful, destructive side.
Rather, we get stuck because stepping off the roller coaster of disordered behaviors feels destabilizing and uncomfortable. Even if we know we want to stop, it just doesn’t feel right at first. That’s the pain of withdrawal. And while it feels excruciating at first, if we stick with it, it gets easier, and eventually life gets better and easier.
Practicing with dopamine withdrawal for small things can help us tolerate making big changes in our lives. If you want to test what it feels like to step off a dopamine roller coaster, put your phone out of reach for an unusually long period of time. How does it feel? Do you have any symptoms that could be called withdrawal? If so, how do you cope?
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