Euthyroidism, dopamine, computer games, and meditation
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Here are some ideas I've head recently which I hope you might find as interesting as me. Let's start in an odd place, some podcasts from Andrew Huberman, which I was listening to a few years ago, mention the idea of a "dopamine fast". In specific the idea that you can overcome various addictions by dopamine fasting, is put forward, and a specific anecdotal case of success is given where a child who is addicted to playing video games breaks the addiction by abstaining for 30 days.
Now this isn't so remarkable in itself, most "get out of bad habits"-programs deal with it this way, what's remarkable is that Huberman iirc posits the idea that your dopamine receptors need to be readjusted to normal levels, and that it's this very mechanism, of readjusting your dopamine receptors that makes you able to after a dopamine fast, then start enjoying other things in life.
Now I've had a personal experience a bit like this recently, I've always played a lot of computer games, but since I started peating, I have lost almost all interest. Sometimes, when I'm fatigued from a very active day, I might feel like playing video games these days, but I just rest on the couch instead, and once rested I feel like doing something other than games.
Now bear with me, I realize this post becomes long and maybe arduous to follow, since this isn't just a "help me fix this issue" question.
I would say that for durations in my life, I was addicted to video games, but then I started peating, and the addictions just melted away, I literally did not even try to quit. And this is where the two anecdotes come together with peaty ideas. Is it possible that the true mechanism of overcoming something like computer game addiction, is actually just the process of becoming euthyroid? And that the computer game addiction itself, is along the line of what peat usually talks about with obsessive behaviors, trying to correct the situation in itself, with computer games being a, maybe in theory mostly, a restful and playful activity that you can safely engage in. Now in practice, games are actually quite straining, meaning the activity is not very restful.
And this happens to connect itself to dopamine fasting in a profoundly strong way, namely, dopamine inhibits TSH. Meaning if you are dopamine engorged from a wonderful computer game, your TSH will be inhibited, meaning your metabolism will tends towards stress.
And also the contrary, that if one engages in a dopamine fast, your TSH will rise and, given thyroid/liver health, you might become profoundly euthyroid.
This now connects back to the title, lastly, which is really the reason I'm posting, meditation. Since I would assume, that something like mindfulness retreats (vipassana in specific iirc), where food is plain, and even things like eye contact is to be avoided, to be "less stimulated", essentially give your body a place to become very thyroid dominant, because of a profoundly full dopamine fast.
Has anyone tried meditation in relation to thyroid dominance, or wish to maybe warn against the use of meditation in general? I'm interested in starting a practice of what I would personally call, boredom meditation, but this of course happens to be much like what most quiet kinds of meditation aim towards anyway, except their frame is maybe towards silent bliss, rather than boredom.
My goal would be to have a meditation practice which I can use to quickly become thyroid dominant at will, (after adequate nutrition of course), leveraging the idea that you lower dopamine to increase TSH, and which then stimulates the whole thyroid dominance. And I would seek to do this in the morning most days for example.
Thank you for reading, and thank you for the forum.
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My take is that dopamine is a powerful serotonin antagonist. You aren't addicted to video games, your serotonin levels are too high and the body is trying to lower them by doing something that increases dopamine levels. It's not a dopamine "addiction", the dopamine is a cure your body is subconsciously seeking out. When you are healthy you no longer need a cure and thus you also no longer seek out dopaminergic activities.
I think neuroscience, neurobiology and psychology all fall into a impressive sounding hogwash that has nothing to do with reality. If you have trouble with sleep, with addiction, appetite or even trouble with violence then it is not the fault of your brain. It is the fault of your hormones. You need an endocrinologist, not a neurologist.
Furthermore, sometimes it is better to have no solution than a bad solution, because a bad solution might prevent you from finding the actual solution. Thus there is some point in trying abstinence, however just in so far that it can motivate you.
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I personally have found meditation quite useful. It can help with dealing stressful situation in life. Meditation is also known to increase dopamine long term. A lot of addictive behavior is an attempt to make up for low dopamine by finding short term burst of dopamine. Meditation, exercise, social connection, etc increase the baseline level of dopamine in the long term, so all meaningful activities can increase dopamine long term, which could aid in overcoming an addiction. Of course a nutritious diet is a valuable thing as well.
The issue with dopamine fasting is that it is an attempt to remove the "bad" things. Essentially dopamine fasting is a way to remove the things that give you dopamine without actually improving your life. The issue with this though is you are trying to remove something without replacing it with something else. I would focus on adding meaningful sources of dopamine to your life.
In order to get meaningful sources of dopamine in your life, you need to change your habits. What do you do each day? What do you want to be doing? If you want a vibrant social life start small, just text a few people you know. Then slowly build up to meeting people regularly then going to events and parties etc. If you want to read books, start by reading 1 page a day and increase the amount overtime. Look into the book "Mini Habits" by Stephen Guise.
Now back to meditation, I have found it to be a very useful habit and has allowed me change my perspective on life and handle stressful situations better. It has allowed me to be me more often and has helped with plasticity as well. Meaning if there is something that I am doing that I do not like, it takes less effort to change it. Also don't underestimate the power of reframing things. A lot of people inherit thought patterns that are not conducive to a happy and interesting life. Meditation can help you work through those.
Meditation also lowers cortisol long term, which is probably where most of the euthyroid effects come from. Diet and lifestyle to lower physiological stress. Meditation to lower psychological stress. Powerful combination
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All three posters above in this thread raise some very good points.
The problem I have with a term like "dopamine fasting" is that the proponents - although well-meaning - make it sound like dopamine release is the villain. It doesn't ask the question why people, increasingly in my observation, feel the need to consume what is called supernormal stimuli in order to increase their dopamine levels. The current dopamine fasting trend sounds like high dopamine releases are the problem itself and not just a symptom.
OP mentions the anecdote with the kid that gave up computer games after abstaining for 30 days. I know people like that from real life, so it's not just anecdotes. But what happens if you abstain for 30 days and your problems are still the same after those 30 days - whether the problem is hormonal or psychological? Wouldn't you just continue doing the same stuff as before? My guess would be that the kid lost the desire for computer games, because he spent time with friends, maybe playing some sports, spent more time outside, and realized that this is actually better than counter strike.
I remember in one episode of the GE podcast Danny asked Dr. Peat about porn addicts, and Peat said something like "I think they just need a girlfriend". While that may have been a partial joke and is not as easy as it sounds, I think there's also some truth to it. If you have the experience that "the real thing" is better, more fullfilling and less shallow than pixels on a screen, that might abolish your desire for the fake alternative.
I have tried meditation in the past and it helps me to just deal with life and become calmer. I have never looked into any connection to thyroid function, so I don't have any input here. The only thing I know is that experienced meditators have more gray matter in the prefrontal cortex and a better connectivity between certain brain areas.
