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A review by drawlina
Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence by Anna Lembke
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
2.0
Was excited for this one, but was horrifically disappointed by the author's opinions overtaking what useful science is included. There was some interesting information in this book about the nature of addiction and the relationships between pleasure and pain in the brain, but a lot of the content rubbed me the wrong way.
The author makes frequent comparisons of her addiction to erotic novels to the sometimes potentially fatal addictions of her clients. There is a lot of speculation about what her clients "mean" when they say certain things--why not just ask them?? I did specifically listen to the audiobook version narrated by the author, and her tone and word choice while describing some of her previous clients is downright cruel. I would be mortified to learn that a professional I had reached out to for help had secretly been viewing me this way.
Also, a lot of talk about how people in contemporary society are over medicated and how stopping meds can be great seems highly irresponsible coming from an MD. That combined with a lot of uncritical cheerleading for A.A. makes this not a read for me. Skip this one, and talk to a licensed professional about your specific case if you're having questions about medication for mental health reasons.
The author makes frequent comparisons of her addiction to erotic novels to the sometimes potentially fatal addictions of her clients. There is a lot of speculation about what her clients "mean" when they say certain things--why not just ask them?? I did specifically listen to the audiobook version narrated by the author, and her tone and word choice while describing some of her previous clients is downright cruel. I would be mortified to learn that a professional I had reached out to for help had secretly been viewing me this way.
Also, a lot of talk about how people in contemporary society are over medicated and how stopping meds can be great seems highly irresponsible coming from an MD. That combined with a lot of uncritical cheerleading for A.A. makes this not a read for me. Skip this one, and talk to a licensed professional about your specific case if you're having questions about medication for mental health reasons.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt