Do you wake up each morning and feel as though there is no more spark in your life? If so, you might have what is known as dopamine deficiency. Dopamine is the primary brain chemical response that motivates us and makes us feel good. That is why dopamine is often referred to as a pleasure chemical, although that is not entirely correct.
However, what many people don’t know is that insufficient dopamine production plays a much more significant role in our functioning than only making us feel moody and tired. Low dopamine levels also contribute to many mental health conditions and even addiction. This article will explain what dopamine is, what causes its deficit, its impact on mental health and addiction, and ways to address low dopamine.
What Is Dopamine?
Dopamine is commonly described as a feel-good neurotransmitter – a chemical messenger found in the brain along with other neurotransmitters, such as endorphins and serotonin. It is known as a reward chemical since it is responsible for the pleasure-reward system in the brain. Additionally, it is named a motivation molecule since it gives us the focus and drive we need to be productive.
Dopamine plays a role in multiple brain functions, including sleep, mood, learning, concentration, focus, motor control, and memory. Dopamine is essential when it comes to achieving that feeling of motivation that is required to work towards your goals. It also gives you a sense of satisfaction when you accomplish your tasks.
When Is Dopamine Released?
Dopamine is released when your needs are being, or are about to be, met. In fact, dopamine played an important role in the survival of our ancestors by giving them an energy boost when they were met with a favourable opportunity, such as finding food.
Of course, the way we live life these days is very different from our ancestors. Due to evolution, our needs have become less primitive. Today, we don’t pursue dopamine to satisfy our basic physiological needs; these are readily available and easily met. Instead, nowadays, dopamine production is related to psychological needs, such as self-esteem and a sense of belonging.
What can cause dopamine release? It can be anything from learning a new skill or completing a project to watching sports or getting a promotion. Practically any type of accomplishment that makes you feel proud can positively impact your dopamine system and increase its levels.
Another way of achieving a dopamine lift is by using addictive substances. Drugs and substances have chemical properties that are able to produce the same feeling, or ‘high,’ as when you get dopamine naturally.
That is why people with genetic chemical imbalances in the brain, such as dopamine system dysregulation, are more susceptible to becoming addicted to substances.
What Is Dopamine Deficiency?
Unfortunately, it’s impossible to measure dopamine levels in the brain. What we do know is that specific groups of symptoms are associated with irregular dopamine activity. Therefore, the phase ‘dopamine deficiency’ can imply several things, such as:
- Too little dopamine is being produced
- Too few dopamine receptors
- Damaged or flawed dopamine receptors
- Dopamine is broken down at a fast rate
- Dopamine is not recirculated properly
What Are Low Dopamine Symptoms?
Low dopamine symptoms can vary from one person to another. Essentially, the most common symptoms of low dopamine levels include:
- fatigue
- anxiety and depression
- mood swings
- memory loss or brain fog
- muscle stiffness and muscle cramps
- lack of sex drive (low libido)
- lack of motivation
- problems with concentration and focus
- sleeping disorders
These symptoms also depend on what causes low dopamine levels. We’ll cover that in the next section.
What Causes Dopamine Deficiency?
There are many reasons why you might experience symptoms of dopamine deficiency. One of the most common is a poor diet, especially a diet high in sugar and saturated fat. The lack of protein can also lead to lower dopamine levels due to the lack of 1-tyrosine, an amino acid and one of dopamine’s primary building blocks. Obesity is also connected with decreased dopamine production.
However, it’s not just your dietary habits that can cause dopamine levels to decrease. Research also suggests insufficient dopamine production is connected to stress and anxiety, especially chronic stress. Several underlying health conditions can also severely impact dopamine production. Parkinson’s disease or restless leg syndrome, for example.
Dopamine deficiency is also related to substance use disorder, such as alcohol or drug abuse. Some prescription medications can also interfere with appropriate dopamine production. Lower dopamine levels can also be caused by sleep deprivation, which can reduce the number of D2 receptors in the brain, negatively affecting dopamine transmission and production.
Some research implies that dopamine deficiency might be caused by the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, more research is required to confirm this theory. For now, scientists still aren’t unanimous regarding ADHD’s underlying cause, although the current research suggests it might be connected to dopamine.
How Is Dopamine Deficiency Linked with Mental Health?
Neurotransmitters such as dopamine allow messages to travel between nerve cells in the brain. When they are disrupted or there is a lack of dopamine, the messages either return to the transmitter or are lost altogether. The consequence of interrupted neurotransmitters can result in several mental disorders, including depression, anxiety, major depressive disorders (MDD), and schizophrenia.
All these conditions are heavily linked to dopamine deficiency, although more research is needed to determine whether they depend solely on dopamine or whether other neurotransmitters are also involved. Since neurotransmitters affect specific areas of the brain, including mood and behaviour, any errors can trigger reactions that can be indicative of low dopamine symptoms, such as anxiety, aggression, mood swings, etc.
What’s more, dopamine deficiency is also associated with a tendency toward substance dependency, which can eventually lead to substance use disorder and addiction.
What About Dopamine Deficiency and Addiction?
As said, dopamine deficiency has strong connotations with addictive behaviours. That’s because most addictive substances flood the brain with dopamine, immediately raising dopamine levels which creates a ‘high.’ If a person struggles with low dopamine, drugs and alcohol can become the easiest way to stimulate dopamine production.
However, drugs such as cocaine actually work two angles at once by hindering dopamine reabsorption in the brain and increasing dopamine simultaneously in the short term. Once the dopamine is used up, the brain experiences a noticeable crash, which is when a person often ends up using more substances to restore the dopamine levels. Prolonged or intense substance use affects dopamine by causing the number of dopamine receptors to down-regulate, leaving fewer sites for dopamine to bind to and ultimately resulting in a vicious cycle.
A genetic inability to absorb dopamine might also influence certain individuals with psychological problems to abuse substances to try and self-medicate a dopamine deficiency.
How to Treat a Dopamine Deficiency
If you suspect that you may be affected by a low level of dopamine, there are several courses of action that you can take to help naturally increase these levels and improve your mood, motivation, and overall outlook. These include things like:
- Listening to music that you like
- Getting enough sunshine
- Eating more protein, and less saturated fats
- Exercising regularly
- Maintaining an adequate and regular sleep schedule
- Meditating
However, if your dopamine deficiency is linked to an addiction or mental health issue, it’s critical to seek professional treatment to help bring balance back to your dopamine levels. Here’s where The Dawn Rehab can help.
Our professional treatment will help to address the root causes of addiction and introduce healthy coping mechanisms and tools that boost dopamine levels safely and naturally, all in our calm and beautiful wellness centre in Thailand.
Get Help at The Dawn Drug Rehab in Thailand
Dopamine deficiency can have serious effects on one’s mental and physical health. If you or your loved one is facing a problem with mental illness or addiction, now is the time to make a change. Whether you are struggling with dopamine deficiency-associated addiction or a mental health problem, The Dawn Wellness Center and Rehab Thailand can help.
Don’t let dopamine dictate how you live your life. Learn more about our rehab programs and mental wellness retreats, or contact us directly to receive a non-obligation assessment on how The Dawn can help you regain control over your life. Begin your journey with The Dawn today.
Q: What causes a lack of dopamine?
A: There are many reasons why you may experience symptoms of dopamine deficiency, including poor diet and health conditions. Aside from poor diet, other causes of low dopamine include:
- Stress
- Alcohol withdrawal syndrome
- Obesity
- Unhealthy nutrition
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Restless leg syndrome disorder
- High creative
- Drug use
Q: How do you treat low dopamine?
A: If your dopamine deficiency is linked to an addiction or mental health issue, seeking treatment for these conditions will be critical in helping to bring balance back to your level of dopamine. Professional treatment will help to address the root causes of addiction and introduce healthy coping mechanisms and tools that boost dopamine levels safely and naturally.
Q: What happens when dopamine is too low?
A: Neurotransmitters such as dopamine allow messages to travel between nerve cells in the brain. When they are disrupted or there is a lack of dopamine, the messages either return to the transmitter or are lost altogether. The consequence of interrupted neurotransmitters can result in depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions, as well as a tendency toward substance dependency.
Q: How do you raise dopamine levels?
A: If you suspect that you may be affected by a low level of dopamine, there are several courses of action that you can take to help naturally increase these levels. These include things like:
- Listening to music that you like
- Getting enough sunshine
- Eating more protein, and less saturated fats
- Exercising regularly
- Maintaining an adequate and regular sleep schedule
- Meditating
Q: What is dopamine excess?
A: While some experience dopamine deficiency, it is possible to also experience dopamine excess. And just like low dopamine levels, too much dopamine can also lead to severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia. A dopamine surplus is also heavily connected to addictive behaviours, such as compulsive gambling and drug abuse.
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