多巴胺脱瘾治疗

让我给你介绍几个神经学家用老鼠做的实验
The researchers implanted electrodes in the brains of rats.
研究员将电极植入老鼠脑内
Whenever the rat pulled a lever,
老鼠拉动控制杆时
the researchers stimulated the rat’s reward system in the brain.
研究员就会刺激老鼠脑中的奖赏系统
The result was that the rats developed a craving so strong
结果老鼠产生了强烈的欲望
they kept pulling the lever, over and over for hours.
它们不断拉动控制杆数小时不间断
The rats would refuse to eat or even sleep.
老鼠拒绝进食甚至拒绝睡觉
They would just keep pressing the lever
它们只会不断按压控制杆
until they would drop from exhaustion.
直到累倒在地
But then the process was reversed.
之后的现象却完全相反
The researchers blocked the release of dopamine in the brain’s reward center.
研究员阻断大脑奖赏系统释放多巴胺
As a result, rats became so lethargic that
结果老鼠变得无精打采
even getting up to get a drink of water was not worth the effort.
连起身喝水也提不起精神
They wouldn’t eat.
它们不会进食
They didn’t want to mate.
不想交配
They didn’t crave anything at all.
完全无欲无求
You could say that the rats lost all will to live.
可以说老鼠失去了所有生存意志
However, if food was placed directly in their mouths,
但如果把食物放在老鼠嘴边
the rats would still eat and enjoy the food.
它们仍然会进食且享受食物
They just didn’t have the motivation to get up and do it themselves.
它们只是没有动力自己起身去吃
You would think that
你可能认为是
it’s thirst or hunger that motivates us to get food or water.
口渴或饥饿让我们去进食或饮水
But there’s also dopamine that plays a key role here.
但多巴胺也起了重要作用
Those rat experiments might be extreme cases.
老鼠实验或许是个极端的案例
But you can see similar effects dopamine has in humans and in our daily lives.
但你可以看到多巴胺在人类及其日常生活中起着类似的作用
In fact,
事实上
your brain develops priorities in large part based on how much dopamine it’s
人脑很大程度上会根据多巴胺的预计释放量
expecting to get.
给每件事排序
If an activity releases too little dopamine,
如果一项活动释放的多巴胺很少
you won’t have much motivation to do it.
你就会没有动力做它
But if an activity releases a lot of dopamine,
但如果释放大量多巴胺
you’ll be motivated to repeat it over and over.
你就有动力一遍遍地重复做它
So which behaviors release dopamine?
所以什么行为会释放多巴胺呢？
Any activity where you anticipate there’s a potential reward releases it.
任何你认为有潜在回报的活动都会让大脑释放多巴胺
But if you know there are no immediate rewards with the behavior,
但如果你知道该行为不会马上得到回报
your brain won’t release it.
大脑就不会释放多巴胺
For example, before you eat comfort food,
比如在吃喜欢的食物之前
your brain releases dopamine,
你的大脑会释放多巴胺
because you anticipate that the food will make you feel good.
因为你知道它会让你心情变好
Even if it actually makes you feel worse.
即使它实际上让你心情变差了
That’s because your brain doesn’t even care
因为你的大脑根本不会考虑
if the high dopamine activity is damaging to you.
这项高多巴胺活动是否对你有害
It just wants more of it.
它只是想要更多多巴胺
A stereotypical example would be someone who’s a drug addict.
瘾君子就是一个典型的例子
He knows that what he’s doing is not good for him.
他知道吸毒有害
But all he wants is to get more of that drug.
但他只想得到更多毒品
Besides getting you high,
毒品除了让人兴奋
cocaine and heroin release unnatural amounts of dopamine, which
可卡因和海洛因还会让大脑释放超常量的多巴胺
in turn makes you crave them even more.
那会让你更加上瘾
Of course it has to be noted that
当然还有一点
nearly everything releases some amount of dopamine.
几乎每件事释放的多巴胺都差不多
Even drinking water when you’re thirsty does.
即便是口渴喝水也是
But the highest dopamine release happens when you get a reward randomly.
但当获得的回报随机时多巴胺释放最多
One such example is playing on a slot machine in a casino.
在赌场玩老虎机就是这样的例子
Even if you’ve only been losing money until that point,
即使在出现特定组合之前你一直输钱
you eventually expect to get a bigger reward.
但你总期待更大的奖
You just don’t know when it could happen.
你只是不知道何时才能得到
And in today’s digital society,
在当今数字社会
we are flooding our brains with unnaturally high amounts of dopamine on a daily basis,
我们的大脑每天都充斥着异常高的多巴胺
even if we don’t know it.
甚至我们自己都不知道
Some examples of high dopamine behaviors include:
列举几个释放大量多巴胺的行为：
scrolling through social media websites,
逛社交媒体
playing video games,
玩电子游戏
watching internet pornography, etc.
看色情网站等等
We anticipate some sort of reward with each one of those behaviors.
我们期待这些行为的种种回报
That’s why we’re constantly checking our phones.
这就是为什么我们时常查看手机
We expect to see a text message or some other notification.
我们期待看到一条短信或其他通知
And we know that eventually we’re going to receive it.
并且知道总会收到一条的
We’re becoming like those rats pulling the lever,
我们越来越像那些拉动控制杆的老鼠
tying to get a new dopamine hit.
试图获得新的多巴胺刺激
And you might think, “Oh so what?”
你可能会想 “那又怎样呢？”
“It’s not like it’s harming me in any way.”
“这对我没什么伤害”
But you’d be wrong.
但你可能错了
Our bodies have a biological system called homeostasis.
我们身体有个生物系统称为内稳态
It means that our body likes to
意思是我们的身体会
keep internal physical and chemical conditions at a balanced level.
平衡体内的物理和化学环境
Whenever an imbalance occurs, our body adapts to it.
当出现不平衡时我们的身体会去适应它
Let me give you an example:
我举个例子：
When it’s cold outside, our body temperature falls.
天气冷时我们的体温会下降
And as a result, we start shivering to generate heat and warm the body.
导致我们开始发抖来产生热量暖和身体
However when it’s hot outside, our body temperature rises.
但天气炎热时我们的体温上升
And we start sweating to lose some of that heat.
我们开始出汗释放多余热量
Essentially our body is looking to maintain a temperature of
基本上我们的身体会维持体温在
around 37 degrees Celsius or 98 degrees Fehrenheit,
37摄氏度左右也就是98华氏度
no matter what.
无论如何
But there is another way homeostasis manifests itself.
内稳态还有一个表现
And that is through tolerance.
那就是耐受性
For example, someone who rarely drinks alcohol, will get drunk really fast.
比如不常喝酒的人很容易喝醉
But someone who drinks on a regular basis, will have to drink more alcohol,
常常喝酒的人酒量较大
Essentially it takes more and more alcohol to make them drunk,
也就是说他们要摄入更多酒精才会醉
because they’ve become less sensitive to its effects.
因为他们对酒精的作用不敏感了
And it’s not much different with dopamine.
多巴胺也是差不多的道理
Your body tries to maintain homeostasis,
你的身体想要维持内稳态
so it down-regulates your dopamine receptors.
就会下调多巴胺受体的敏感度
Essentially your brain gets used to having high levels of dopamine
本质上你的大脑习惯了高水平的多巴胺
and those levels become your new normal.
这样的高水平就成了你的正常水平
Thus you develop a dopamine tolerance.
因此你对多巴胺产生了耐受性
This can be a huge problem,
这是个大问题
because the things that don’t give you as much dopamine,
因为提供不了大量多巴胺的事情
don’t interest you any longer.
不再让你感兴趣
And it’s much more difficult to motivate yourself to do them.
你就越没有动力去做这些事
They feel boring and less fun,
它们无聊无趣
because they don’t release as much dopamine,
因为释放的多巴胺远少于
compared to the things that do release it in high amounts.
那些释放大量多巴胺的事情
That’s why people tend to prefer playing video games
这就是为什么人们更喜欢玩游戏
or browsing the internet,
或者上网
compared to studying or working on their business.
相比于学习或工作
Video games make us feel good and comfortable,
电子游戏让我们感觉良好舒适
as they release a lot of dopamine.
因为它们释放大量多巴胺
Sadly things like working hard or reading, releases it in lower amounts.
遗憾的是认真工作读书之类的事释放多巴胺很少
This is one of the reasons why drug addicts who try to quit
这也是为什么想戒毒的瘾君子
have a hard time adjusting to a normal life.
很难回归正常生活的原因之一
Their dopamine tolerance gets so high
他们的多巴胺耐受性太高
that normal life isn’t able to match it.
以至于正常生活无法满足
They become like those rats from previous experiments
他们变得像之前实验里的老鼠
who have no motivation to do anything
如果不释放足够的多巴胺
if there’s not enough dopamine release.
他们没有动力做任何事
And it’s not just drug addicts.
不只是瘾君子
People who are addicted to video games, social media
对电子游戏社交媒体
or internet pornography
色情网站上瘾的人
experience the same thing.
都在经历同样的事
Once their dopamine tolerance gets too high,
一旦他们的多巴胺耐受性过高
they simply aren’t able to enjoy low dopamine behaviors.
就对低多巴胺行为不感兴趣
Which begs the question:
这就引出一个问题：
Is there anything that can be done to prevent this?
有没有方法可以阻止这一切？
The answer is you need to perform a dopamine detox.
答案是你需要进行多巴胺脱瘾治疗
By now you might already have an idea
现在你或许已经想象到
what dopamine detox is going to look like.
多巴胺脱瘾治疗是什么样了
What you’re going to do is set aside a day,
你要做的是留出一天时间
where you’re going to avoid all the highly stimulating activities.
避免所有高刺激的活动
You’re going to stop flooding your brain with high amounts of dopamine
让大脑不再处于大量多巴胺中
and you’re going to let your dopamine receptors recover.
让多巴胺受体恢复
Just a disclaimer: If you’re suffering from a drug addiction,
我先声明：如果你受到毒瘾的困扰
then I suggest you seek professional help,
我建议你寻求专业帮助
as you’ve probably formed a physiological and psychological dependence.
因为你可能产生了生理和心理依赖
And I don’t want you to experience any extreme withdrawal symptoms.
我不希望你经历任何极端的戒断症状
Now back to the detox.
现在说回到脱瘾治疗
For 1 whole day you will try to have as little fun as possible.
这一整天你要尽可能过的无趣
You won’t be using the internet,
不能上网
or any technology like your phone or computer.
或使用手机电脑等电子产品
You’re not allowed to listen to music,
不可以听音乐
you’re not allowed to masturbate or eat any junk food.
不可以手淫或吃垃圾食品
Basically you’re going to remove all sources of external pleasure
基本上你要切断所有外在的快乐源泉
for the entire day.
整整一天
You’re going to embrace boredom.
拥抱无聊
And trust me, there will be a lot of boredom.
相信我会非常无聊
You are however allowed to do the following:
但你可以做这些事：
Go for a walk.
散步
Meditate and be alone with your thoughts.
冥想和你的思想独处
Reflect on your life and goals.
反思你的人生和目标
Write down any ideas you get.
写下你的想法
Not on your computer or phone, but on a physical piece of paper.
不是写在电脑或手机上而是手写在纸上
All of this might seem quite intense.
这一切看起来或许太过了
But if you want radical results and you want them fast,
但如果你想要又好又快的结果
you need to be able to take radical action.
你就需要有能力做彻底的行动
Now you might be asking yourself:
现在你可能在想：
Why would this even work?
这样为什么有用？
You can think of it this way.
你可以这样想
Let’s say that you’ve been eating every single meal
假如你每顿饭都
at the best restaurant in your town.
在市里最好的餐馆吃
As a result, what happened is that
结果就是
those fancy meals became your new normal.
那些美妙的食物会变得稀松平常
If someone offered you a bowl of plain rice,
如果有人送你一碗普通的米饭
you would probably refuse.
你很可能会拒绝
It simply wouldn’t taste as good as your usual restaurant meal.
因为它不如你平时在餐馆吃的好
But if you suddenly find yourself stranded on a deserted island
但如果你突然发现自己被困荒岛
and you’re starving,
饥肠辘辘
suddenly that bowl of plain rice doesn’t seem so bad.
这碗普通的米饭好像突然没那么差了
And that is what the dopamine detox does.
多巴胺脱瘾治疗是同样的原理
It starves you of all the pleasure you usually get,
它剥夺你平时得到的所有快乐
and in turn, it makes those less satisfying activities more desirable.
转而让那些不那么令人满足的活动变得更加令人向往
To put it simply:
简单来说：
Dopamine detox works because you become so bored,
多巴胺脱瘾治疗有效是因为它让你很无聊
that boring stuff becomes more fun.
以至于无聊的事情都变得更有趣了
Now if you don’t want to take such extreme action
如果你不想用这个极端的方法
and starve yourself of all the pleasure,
不想剥夺所有的快乐
you can perform a smaller dopamine detox.
你可以做轻松一点的多巴胺脱瘾治疗
You’re going to pick one day of the week,
在一周里抽出一天时间
where you’re going to refrain from
这一天你要完全克制
one of your high dopamine behaviors completely.
你的一项高多巴胺行为
Whatever that behavior might be.
不论是什么行为
Maybe checking your phone all the time,
比如时常查看手机
playing video games on your computer,
玩电脑游戏
binge watching TV,
刷剧
eating junk food,
吃垃圾食品
watching internet pornography, whatever.
看色情网站什么都不可以
And from now on, every single week for one whole day,
从那周开始每周里有一整天
you’re going to avoid that activity.
你都要避免那个活动
You can still do other things, but the behavior you pick is off limits.
你可以做别的事情除了你选的那件事
Yes, you will feel slightly bored, but that’s the point.
当然你会觉得有点无聊但这就是关键所在
You want to let your dopamine receptors recover
要让你的多巴胺受体从
from the unnaturally high dopamine that’s been flooding your brain.
充斥着超量多巴胺的大脑恢复过来
And boredom is going to propel you to do other things that day.
无聊感会促使你在那天做其他事情
Things that you would normally put off,
做那些你通常会推掉的事
because they don’t release as much dopamine.
因为它们释放的多巴胺少
And because you’re bored, it’s easier for you to do them.
因为你觉得无聊所以更容易做那些事
Of course avoiding high dopamine behavior once in a while is good.
当然偶尔避免高多巴胺行为是好事
But ideally you should avoid those behaviors altogether,
但理想情况是你应该完全避免这些行为
or at least as much as possible.
或至少尽可能地避免
Instead you want to connect more dopamine to
取而代之的是你要将更多的多巴胺跟
the things that will actually benefit you.
真正有益于你的事联系在一起
And what I found is that your current high dopamine activities
而我发现你现在的高多巴胺活动
can serve as an incentive
可以作为一种激励
to pursue things that actually give you those long term benefits.
让你去追求那些真正带给你长远利益的东西
In other words, you could use your high dopamine activity
换言之你可以把高多巴胺活动
as a reward for completing difficult work.
作为完成困难工作的奖励
And this is exactly what I do myself.
这也是我自己在做的
I track all the difficult, low dopamine work I do.
我解决了我所有困难低多巴胺的工作
Cleaning my apartment,
打扫公寓
practicing the piano,
练钢琴
reading books,
读书
doing some sort of exercise,
做运动
creating these videos, etc.
录这些视频等等
After I’m able to get a certain amount of work done,
在我有能力完成一定量的工作之后
I reward myself with some amount of high dopamine activity at the end of the day.
一天结束时我奖励自己做一些高多巴胺活动
The key words here are: after, and, at the end of the day.
关键词是：之后一天结束时
If I indulge in high dopamine behavior first,
如果我一开始就沉迷于高多巴胺行为
then I’m not going to feel like doing the low dopamine work.
那我就不想做低多巴胺的工作了
I’m simply not going to be motivated enough.
我就会没有足够的动力
So I always start with the difficult things,
所以我总是从最难的事开始
only then I allow myself to indulge in high dopamine activities.
那之后才会允许自己沉迷高多巴胺活动
To give you an example:
举个例子：
For every completed hour of low dopamine work,
每完成1小时低多巴胺工作
I reward myself with 15 minutes of high dopamine behavior at the end of the day.
一天结束时我就奖励自己15分钟高多巴胺活动
That means that for 8 hours of low dopamine,
那意味着 8小时低多巴胺工作后
I allow myself roughly 2 hours of high dopamine behavior.
我允许自己做高多巴胺活动大概两小时
Of course, these are my ratios.
当然这是我的比例
You can tweak them to your liking.
你可以按自己的喜好调整
Also it has to be noted that
还需要注意的是
if you’re addicted to something that’s damaging to your health,
如果你对有害健康的东西上瘾
then you don’t want to treat that behavior as a reward.
那么就不要把它当作奖励了
Instead find a different reward that’s not as damaging.
换个其他不伤身体的奖励
One that you still think is worth the effort.
换个你认为值得你的努力的奖励