Essentials: Understanding & Treating Addiction | Dr. Anna Lembke

I am 2.5 years clean from 25+ years of alcohol, weed, and cigarette addiction in large part because of watching Dr. Huberman's discussion with Dr. Lembke recorded about three years ago. Ridding myself of addiction to all three at the same time was no picnic, but I did it. Their discussion just made sense and was something I thought a lot about as I fought off bouts of doubt and difficulty. PS, quitting cigarettes was for me by far the hardest addiction to quit. I'll never go back to any of them again. I'm just done. For anyone reading this ready to quit: Give yourself about six months to shed all the crap. It does get better. 3 days hell; 3 weeks heck; 3 months okay; 6 months - clean. Thank you, doctors!

I sent an email to Dr Lembke after first hearing the original podcast years ago. She wrote me back in less than 5 minutes. Despite how busy she must be, she had the heart to do that at which has helped carry me through sobriety.

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Alcohol is not just a drink—it’s a spiritual weapon dressed as celebration. You've been taught to see it as harmless, fun, even sophisticated.

I was a heroin addict for 20+ years. Hopped off 5 mg of methadone after weening down. 4 weeks later, I took my 1st serving of ayahuasca. Changed my ENTIRE life 180°. Integration and disciplined practices being the MOST important parts. I've got a 40k word book I'm trying to get published this year. Huberman and others like him have been instrumental in my continued growth to good health, abundance, and an extremely fulfilling life where I now....help others.🌱🙏 I could speak on this for hours! Lol.

31:50 mins. This must be Mr Hubermans version of a youtube short

I started using weed when I was 14 and smoked chronicly until 1 month and 13 days ago. I used hard drugs such as coke and mdma from 15 to 19 heavily. Im 28 now. Ive struggled with qutting weed more than the hard stuff. Weed has had such a negative impact on my life but im happy that ive made it this far. I thank god im still young and get to live the rest of my life sober.

Thank God for genuine & caring people like Dr. Anna Lembke. I’ve watched the full episode 3 times this year and get so much out of it. Thank you Dr. H for all your hard work!

I use to watch Netflix a lot at night and sometimes play video games. But I realized that these activities are releasing lot of dopamine, so normal activities in the morning feels boring.

So, engaging in addictive behavior leads to a kind of “dopamine resistance,” similar to the insulin resistance that occurs when one eats too much sugar/carbs/crud. Also, how absolutely beautiful is Dr. Lembke? What a generous, loving, empathic soul.