Tanner Keegan Read
Tanner Keegan Read
Climbing the Dopamine Mountain with Andy Y West
Climbing the Dopamine Mountain with Andy Y West
Climbing the Dopamine Mountain with Andy Y West
Thursday 15th May 2025
Explore dopamine's role in mental health with Andy West. Discover addiction recovery insights, neuroplasticity, and tips for effective routines.
Explicit
63 minutes
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspirational
supportive
About this podcast
Author:
Tanner Keegan Read
Overview:
Categories:
Recovery Reimagined
Family Recovery from Addiction
Understanding Addiction & Recovery
Body & Mind
Financial Health in Recovery
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Episodes:
182 (View all)
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Get the buttons here!Navigating Dopamine: Insights with Andy West
Episode Overview
- Dopamine impacts motivation and mood.
- Challenges can regulate dopamine levels.
- Small steps are vital in personal growth.
- GABA influences the liking aspect of rewards.
- Morning routines enhance GABA and dopamine balance.
Challenges, effort, workouts, cold plunge... unpleasantness itself is how we can lower dopamine by choice and then it's able to rise just from relief.
In the latest episode of Retrieving Sanity, host Keegan Read converses with Andy West, author of Dopamine Mountain, to delve into the intricate world of dopamine and its profound impact on mental health, addiction, and recovery. Andy shares her personal journey through addiction, underscoring the significance of dopamine and its role in motivation, mood, and executive functioning.
Her story highlights a period of intense struggle during the COVID era, marked by relationship issues, lack of work, and a challenging mental health landscape. Andy recounts how her inability to access her dopamine reward system led to symptoms resembling ADHD, including executive dysfunction and anhedonia. Her quest for recovery involved exploring various supplements and medical interventions, which provided limited relief.
However, through perseverance, she discovered methods that helped restore balance, prompting her to write a book to share her insights. A key point of discussion is the differentiation between dopamine and GABA. While dopamine is associated with wanting, GABA governs the liking aspect of rewards. Andy explains how challenges, effort, and even discomfort can intentionally lower dopamine levels, allowing for a rise through relief.
This concept is vital in addiction recovery, where interrupting addictive thoughts can lead to healthier coping mechanisms. Moreover, Andy emphasizes the importance of small steps and gradual progress in personal growth. Neuroplasticity plays a crucial role in this process, enabling individuals to rewire their brains for better mental health outcomes. Practical advice on enhancing GABA and structuring effective morning routines is provided, offering listeners tangible strategies to apply in their daily lives.
The episode concludes with a call to action for community support in mental health, highlighting the importance of reaching out and being ready to assist those in need. Andy's insights not only shed light on dopamine's complexities but also inspire hope and resilience in the face of mental health challenges.