This article is based on a conversation I had. It is edited to be more coherent. It is not meant to be taken literally because I am not a neurologist. Take it as advanced speculation.
Anonymous: I’m reading a book about how to stop being depressed without using medication.
Justin: Does reading the book make you feel better and motivated?
The reason I asked this question is because the act of doing anything that causes you to perceive that you’re moving closer to a goal or solution causes an increase in dopamine and makes you feel better. So ironically reading a book about depression that makes you feel like you’re making progress will alleviate depression. It is my belief in these situations that actually it’s the act of passing milestones that actually helps. Not necessarily the information.
We can sometimes feel depressed after we finish working on a book or resource, and then we are confused why we are still depressed. But the reason is because we stopped moving forward. For this reason, a search for a depression cure can be a downward spiral, in my opinion. Because searching makes one feel better, when progress is being made. But then we are left in a slump after. This slump makes us feel like we need to find a solution. Progress toward finding a depression solution becomes harder and harder as novel information dries up. But the solution is simple. Stop searching for solutions and instead do cool things you’re interested in and the progress made provides the same depression relief.
Anonymous: But I know that one thing that really REALLY helped my depression was when I was exercising and sunning and meditating and supplementing too.
Justin: Those are obviously good ideas. But consider also maybe you were taking care of yourself because you weren’t depressed. The feeling of hope from seeing all the room for improvement—having a plan—alleviated the depression and then you became motivated and dutifully followed through with self-care. I think this is something The Power of Now is struggling to say. That happiness is a choice you make inside and is not something you seek out.
Anonymous: How very strange, I find that that’s exactly what The Power of Now is trying to say?
Justin: Right but what I mean is it struggling to describe the underlying neurology. That the act of searching and making progress makes you feel happy. But if you can find a way to stop yearning, that happiness is always available to you.
I vaguely think Andrew Huberman’s lectures on dopamine and motivation may be related to The Power of Now, or the same thing. That they both purport that there is some sort of special trick to setting your own expectations. Since dopamine is related to tracking time it seems like the idea of being mindfully present would short circuit the dopamine reward pathway and give you access to a space that is free from the ups and downs of dopamine attachments and rewards. But it’s not like woo-woo magic meditation nonsense. It’s just treating your dopamine reward system with respect and not tripping yourself up by having lofty unattainable unrealistic goals.
Anyway I’m just thinking out loud. Feel free to criticize whatever you think doesn’t make sense.
Anonymous: I totally believe it, though. While I was in that state of mind, doing tasks didn’t feel like torture.
Justin: *ends conversation like any normal adult, by sending a delicious-looking pie emoji*