In this episode, Dr. Lisle & Dr. Howk briefly discuss a recent article titled, “Harvard researchers help explain link between emotion and addictive substance use”.
They discuss addiction, relapsing, channel factors, Dr. Howk shares a personal story, and we answer the following listener question:
Most of the people I know use chemicals to manage their lives as least in some aspects: coffee to wake up, alcohol for social lubrication, SSRIs when feeling down, and beta blockers for anxiety, even Adderall or cocaine for productivity and charisma and so on. Even knowing what I know, it’s hard to resist the feeling that I’m leaving some competitive advantage on the table by not partaking. I assume you would discourage the use of most if not all of these substances. It it because you think they are all net negative in the long run, or do you find the whole concept puts the cart before the horse by trying to mold emotions to fit the environment instead of working on the environment? Are there any exceptions?