Are you curious about dopamine fasting and its effects on anxiety?

Or how depriving yourself of instant pleasures, and even adding a bit of painful stuff can make you more resilient, tougher and better able to withstand the test of life?

If so, you definitely have to check pay attention now, because this is exactly what we're going to talk about today.

Here we go...

Dopamine Fasting And Its Effect On Anxiety

Those of you who are taking cold showers know that:

1. a) they are painful.
2. b) the feeling you get after you're done can be nothing short of amazing.

And today, I'm going to show you an interesting graph explaining exactly what's going on here. Once you understand this graph, you can also apply it to other areas of your life. By doing so, you can literally start leveling up in happiness and in your general badass score.

Scandinavian Bob here, hi.

This channel is about discovering interesting biohacks and smart self-improvement tricks in order to build a stronger self. So consider subscribing, click on the bell icon, and let's get going.

Richard Solomon's opponent process theory of emotions...

Okay, so this graph here shows something called Richard Solomon's opponent process theory of emotions. 

Stay with me here because I promise you it's going to keep getting more and more interesting as we go along.

Richard Solomon was a famous psychologist born in 1918, and he was about as smart as they come, let me tell you.

Pain and pleasure are two sides of the same coin...

Now, before I show you the opponent process theory, I need to hype it up by saying that today scientists have found that pain and pleasure are co-located in the brain.

They are two sides of the same coin, and you cannot have one without the other. Please remember those lines as we go along here because that'll make you appreciate Solomon's theory even more.

Okay, so the spike to the left here is the "a process", and then the dip that follows, that's the "b process". And then we have the baseline here.

Alright, now, what Solomon found is that if you expose yourself to some stimuli, there is always going to be an exact opposite reaction later on.

An opponent process will take place after pleasure (or pain)...

Let's take alcohol as an example.

You all know that when you go out and get a bit drunk, well, it can feel very pleasurable during the beginning of that evening, so you instantly shoot high up here on the pleasure curve.

But how do you feel the following day? 

Well, you all know about that as well, not so good, right? Because now the "b" process has kicked in, and now you're feeling pain

Obviously, the same thing happens if you are using adult sites for 5 hours, well then you feel completely drained for a long time after that. And it's the same with all instant gratification stuff.

Your brain wants to maintain homeostasis...

This happens because your brain always wants to keep a level of homeostasis, so whenever you push your baseline in any way, it kicks in a counter process, and that counter process is always the "b process" here.

But here's the deal...

What happens if you then make that counter process work on a painful stimulus like a cold shower?

It works the other way around as well. After pain good feelings follow...

So, we flip it around and put the pain here and the pleasure down here, well then you'll feel very uncomfortable in the moment here during your cold shower, but after you're done, the "b process" kicks in and you'll start feeling really good. 

So now it's the opposite.

And of course, the same thing happens with physical exercise as well. It's painful while you're running, but after you're done, you feel great.

Now, stay with me here because here comes something super interesting...

With time the "A-process" will get shorter and weaker and the "B-process" will get stronger...

The graph here only reflects what happens during the first few stimulations. 

If you keep doing it long term, the graph actually changes and starts to look like this...

The "a process" will become shorter and weaker, and the "b process" will get stronger and longer.

And if you look at the "b process" now, when it ends, it doesn't even reach up to your baseline level any longer.

You can change your "set point"...

What this means, my friends, is that after many stimulations you have literally changed your set point.

So, let's say you keep chasing instant gratification in the form of alcohol. Well, if you keep doing that, you will end up in a situation where you get less pleasure in the moment and even more pain afterwards.

And listen up here, your new set point now ends up below your baseline level of happiness, meaning on average, you are now less happy all the time. 

The addiction process in the form of a graph...

What you are looking at here is the addiction process in a graph.

If you live a life where you constantly keep chasing pleasure for pleasure itself, you end up with depression and anhedonia as a result.

But again, remember, the opponent process theory works on all stimulations.

So, what if we again flip it around and put the pain here and the pleasure down here?

Well, now it starts to get really interesting. 

Let's flip it around...

After taking many cold showers or doing many weeks of physical exercise, here too, the "a process" is getting weaker and shorter, meaning you feel less pain in the moment. But then the "b process" is getting stronger and deeper.

And now you change your happiness set point to this side of the baseline *see video*. Meaning, on average, you are now more happy, and you pretty much feel good all the time.

Do you guys realize then that regularly taking, for example, cold showers, well, that's literally the exact opposite of an addiction, making your baseline levels of happiness much higher than normal?

If you push on one side, the other responds...

Now, think about the phrase I told you at the start of the video, you know, the one that scientists recently found out that pain and pleasure are co-located in the brain.

Ah yeah, I hope you now see how that makes sense.

So, the takeaway message is going to be this...

If you want to have a life with less anxiety and more pleasure, do this...

if you want to have a life with more pleasure, then you should not go for direct pleasures like adult sites, alcohol, junk food. But instead, you should be pushing on the pain side more in order to get the "b process" to give you the reward after you're done. 

Because remember, the longer and more often you do it, the stronger and the longer the "b process" gets.

Don't chase pleasure directly...

So, chasing pleasure directly is a losing battle in the long run, but chasing pleasure indirectly is a long-term winning battle.

And also remember that the "a" and "b" processes are directly opposite to each other. This means that you can apply this concept to everything you want to improve in life. 

For example, have you ever wished to have a lower baseline level of anxiety?

Well, now you know what to do. Go out and deliberately do something that makes you anxious. 

That's going to be the "a process" there.  And then when the "b process" kicks in, you'll be more relaxed.

And over time, remember, the "b process" gets longer and stronger, while the "a process" gets shorter and weaker.

Fight pain with pain and anxiety with anxiety...

So, you fight pain with pain, and you fight anxiety with anxiety, and so on.

Once you really grasp this concept, there's absolutely no limit to what you can apply it to.

Alright, for more interesting videos like this, consider subscribing.

And oh, hey guys, have you seen my video series on exactly what happens on a biological level inside your brain if you watch too much adult sites?

 No? 

Well, if not, take a look right here => This is what happens to your brain if you watch too much porn

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