YLD
President ’ s
COLUMN
A Young Lawyer ’ s Look at
Dopamine Nation : Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence
Many young lawyers find themselves vulnerable to addiction . Take drinking alcohol as one example . While research in the 1990s found that prevalence of problematic drinking was linked to an increased number of years in the profession , more recent studies found the inverse . In the words of a 2016 Journal of Addiction Medicine , “ It is reasonable to surmise from these findings that being in the early stages of one ’ s legal career is strongly correlated with a high risk of developing an alcohol use disorder ” and “ that conclusion is further supported by the fact that the highest rates of problematic drinking were present among attorneys under the age of 30 ( 32.3 %), followed by attorneys aged 31 to 40 ( 26.1 %), with declining rates reported thereafter .”
Dr . Anna Lembke ’ s new book called Dopamine Nation : Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence is the best book I have read to understand addiction in the modern world . Her scope is not limited to alcohol , though that has traditionally been the focus of research for addiction in the legal profession . She points to the myriad mechanisms that exist in our society to escape pain . As she puts it , “[ w ] e ’ ve transformed the world from a place of scarcity to a place of overwhelming abundance : Drugs , food , news , gambling , shopping , gaming , texting , sexting , Facebooking . Instagramming , YouTubing , tweeting . . . the increased numbers , variety , and potency of highly rewarding stimuli today is staggering .” And these new opportunities to escape immediate pain come straight from our smartphone .
“ The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle , delivering digital dopamine 24 / 7 for a wired generation .”
The book is brilliant in its explanation of the science behind how dopamine works . Here is my summary ( though I recommend reading the book ). Our brains want to be in a state of dopamine equilibrium . If we receive a high from the stimuli of choice , it will make the chemical see-saw in our brains swing out of balance . While that feels good in the short run , the neurochemicals that go up must eventually go down . As a result , the see-saw will swing in the opposite direction . But it will not perfectly balance . Instead , it will overcorrect , leaning a little more on the pain side , until time allows the scale to level to its equilibrium point again .
This balancing process explains why there is a let down after a highly pleasurable experience . Or for the trial lawyers out there , it explains why there is an emotional hangover a few days after a major win .
Addiction occurs when people try to escape the low period with another high . In a vicious cycle , the more we seek highs without experiencing the lows , the more the brain will lower the baseline , and the worse it will feel without stimuli . As Dr . Gabor Mate , another great thinker on addiction , puts it , “[ t ] he attempt to escape from pain , is what creates more pain .”
8 | THE DOCKET - NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021