Essentials: Understanding & Treating Addiction | Dr. Anna Lembke

2025-06-26

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In this Huberman Lab Essentials episode, my guest is Dr. Anna Lembke, MD, Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic at Stanford University School of Medicine. We discuss how dopamine drives reward, motivation and addictive behaviors. Dr. Lembke explains the concept of the pleasure-pain balance of dopamine and how this cycle plays a key role in the development and persistence of addiction. We also discuss some of the challenges of addiction recovery, including withdrawal, relapses and the potential benefits of...

In this Huberman Lab Essentials episode, my guest is Dr. Anna Lembke, MD, Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic at Stanford University School of Medicine.

We discuss how dopamine drives reward, motivation and addictive behaviors. Dr. Lembke explains the concept of the pleasure-pain balance of dopamine and how this cycle plays a key role in the development and persistence of addiction. We also discuss some of the challenges of addiction recovery, including withdrawal, relapses and the potential benefits of psychedelic-assisted therapy.

Read the episode show notes at hubermanlab.com.

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Timestamps

00:00:00 Anna Lembke

00:00:15 Dopamine, Reward & Movement

00:01:54 Baseline Dopamine; Genetics, Temperament & Addiction

00:05:24 Addiction, Modern Life & Boredom

00:07:18 Sponsor: AG1

00:08:55 Pleasure-Pain Balance, Dopamine, Addiction

00:14:17 Resetting Dopamine, Substance or Behavior Recovery, Tool: 30-Day Abstinence

00:16:04 Relapse, Addiction, Reflexive Behavior, Empathy

00:20:17 Triggers, Relapse, Dopamine

00:23:15 Sponsor: Wealthfront & BetterHelp

00:26:04 Shame, Truth Telling & Recovery