We live in a Dopamine-dominated world. That’s probably one of the reasons you’re unhappy and distracted. Here’s how to break that cycle.

Do you know the difference between dopamine and serotonin?

Here’s a quick brain science primer. Dopamine and serotonin are both neurotransmitters. They transmit signals in the brain and body that regulate our emotional state.

Dopamine is the neurochemical responsible for the pleasurable feelings we experience when we eat highly processed foods and use social media, but also when we achieve a goal or receive a reward. Serotonin triggers the sentiment of well-being and contentment when we socialize, exercise, and meditate.

It’s an oversimplification, but the easiest way to understand how they differ is that dopamine is about pleasure, and serotonin is about happiness. There lies the problem — and the complicated relationship — between the two.

Think of it this way:

Serotonin promotes happiness, which some philosophers define as the sense that nothing is missing.

Dopamine, however, fires up desire — or the sense that what you have isn’t enough.

Do you see how these two drives could come into conflict now?

It turns out that the tension is not just psychological but also biological. Dopamine and serotonin suppress one another. When dopamine neurotransmitters are firing, the brain dials down the release of serotonin; the reverse is also true. That makes sense: if you want to trigger motivation, you need to quiet the feeling of satisfaction that serotonin provides.

Why is this so important? Dopamine drives our lives. It’s at the core of every swipe, like, and scroll. If you look carefully enough, almost every activity you undertook today had a dopaminergic component.

Did you thumb through your Google news feed this morning? You may have popped into Starbucks for an iced mocha on your way to the gym. Did you tackle your To-Do List and get a little thrill from knocking a few off by midday? Maybe you wasted a couple of minutes over lunchtime surfing Instagram? Here’s the thing: ALL of those activities are huge dopamine drivers.

In other words, our brains are constantly being hijacked with messages telling us that happiness can be found in the next dopamine hit — often delivered by our smartphone slot machines.

Evolution designed us for balance, however.

Dopamine and serotonin are supposed to work together, in relative equilibrium, to calibrate the drive for pleasure and rewards with the satisfaction of emotional stability and well-being. Our brains want them to be level. When we operate in a world where dopamine hits are cheap and plentiful, we end up with a dopamine surplus and a corresponding serotonin deficit. Desire crowds out contentment. TikTok, Tinder, and To-Do Lists may offer little bursts of pleasure, but they ultimately leave us feeling distracted, distraught, and dissatisfied.

What can we do? Let’s start by:

• Becoming aware of just how many apps and activities are hacking your pleasure system for profit, and
• Prioritizing ways to increase the production of serotonin in our lives.

Dial down the dopamine drivers in your life. Make space for more kinetic (exercise) and less frenetic (mindfulness) pursuits that are healthy sources of serotonin. Buy fewer things and spend your time with people and your money on experiences.

My mission is to help people perform, transform, and flourish. By decoding the latest insights from neuroscience, we can learn how to use our biology like a technology.

One critical first step is to realize how dopamine secretly dominates our world and that we need to understand the complicated dynamic between dopamine and serotonin to achieve a healthy balance between pleasure and happiness.