Dopamine Addiction is a Myth -- Here's What the Science Says

[@pwnmeisterage]

"I took control of my life, learned self-discipline, changed my values, and quit wasting my time on social media" says the social media influencer on social media.

[@Freakazoid12345]

Also social media influencers: "Look at these brand new Jordan's and iPhone I'm finding in lakes!" Never trust an, "influencer" that makes a living off of lying to children.

[@Optim40]

KZbin isn't really social media though. It's 50/50 kind of. Since some of that is here as well. BUT ...it's waaayy easier to use this for educational purposes only. Where instagram, facebook, tik tok are platforms specifically intended for either attention seekers, or for you to easily be in others peoples business, paying attention to other peoples lives, instead of just living your own.

[@Freakazoid12345]

@@Optim40 it's a video platform, first and foremost. Connected to other services through a shared user account.

[@VeeDubZster]

@@Optim40 with live streaming and regular uploads people develop a parasocial relationship with the people they watch so it certainly fits the social media definition imo.

[@Car_Mo]

@@Freakazoid12345 One could easily compare YT to Twitter and Instagram: -Media posting (videos) - check - Social interactions (comments) - check - Like button - check - Follow button - check - Communities - check And sadly, the big one ... an abundance of posters presenting subjective opinions as objective facts - check

[@wj11jam78]

I always thought the idea sounded like bullshit, but I decided to try it anyway. What I found was that I was actually using constant sources of stimulation to block out troublesome and distressing thoughts, which is something I have been doing for a long time. Something which has helped me with that is A. Taking walks with my dog without any videos or social media, and B. Not using my phone while on public transport. Or, if I do use my phone, I just play music on it, which doesn't disrupt my thinking too much. Basically, I was using social media, video games, etc. to distract myself from addressing troubling thoughts that I didn't want to have to address. And so the "dopamine detox" really just forced me to confront that I'm still not doing too well at addressing these thoughts but at least I realise it's a proper problem now yknow

[@spacebunsarah]

Yep, I realized I was trans on day 3 of a dopamine detox because I had space to actually think for the first time in my adult life.

[@mohamedwalidoutaleb4970]

@@spacebunsarah lmao maybe some people shouldn’t think on their own

[@zimzob]

@@spacebunsarah you don’t have to believe every thought that comes through your head

[@samuelpenney5925]

​@Sarah 💖 Out of curiosity, how did you come to that conclusion? For me, it was years of questioning internally rather than just a couple days. How long have you identified as trans? What made you realize it? Im curious for other peoples experiences. I "realized" in middle school, came out in highschool, and I am currently finishing up my AS degree.

[@spacebunsarah]

@@samuelpenney5925 i was questioning for a few months and once I actually took the first step I knew that it was right for me immediately. i was pretty unaware and didn’t recognize the signs during my childhood but they were there looking back. I was doing trans activism work before i realized so being involved helped me realize too, because I thought it was always “you know at a young age.” Some people aren’t as self aware as others.

[@Aetoski]

"I won't tell you which because I don't want to discourage you from projecting your own problems onto me" Sabine is Legendary

[@kukulroukul4698]

Legendary $ ...with the mouth only

[@aesa1990]

@Aetoski i will forgo reading the comment section. it spoils these great zingers!

[@GodNeedsNoReligion]

This quote is just so good.

[@YourMomsBoyfriend69]

I literally laughed out loud and frightened my cat.

[@MaryAnnNytowl]

​@@aesa1990 pause at the end and THEN read them, LOL! 😉😄

[@sammicerise8553]

Laughed out loud at the “projecting your own problems on me”. I love her humor and delivery.

[@seans9203]

me too

[@huskiehuskerson5300]

A woman telling men about dopamine addiction lol when men literally have all the distractions and they must hustle to get a job to get a wife and get settled in life. She could never know the struggles of men, men must hustle to gain value, everyone is rude to men, no one gives a shit about male problems, all the hard jobs are done by men, they die they struggle they kill themselves no one gives a fuck unless it's a woman, women have always had it too easy and they still can't stop nagging, they want more, back in the day jobs were even harder and men hustled all day long while women stayed at home living a way easier life while men hustled and died.

[@ChannelMath]

me too. The humor is tailored to the delivery, I think. People like Sabine (and me) can't naturally act physically silly, so deadpan comedy is all we can do. So we've evolved our comedy to work well with our personality

[@edwardmitchell6581]

I was wondering who else noticed. Reminds me of my grandmother’s dark humor. I do miss her everyone I watch Sabine.

[@countermeasuresecurityengi9719]

That’s our Deutsche humour! 🇩🇪

[@nova_supreme8390]

As we have learned from many tabletop roleplaying games, monks specialize in unarmed combat and thus cannot use handheld devices like smartphones. This means that they have greater chance of resisting mindaffecting ailments social media might cause so name it monk mode is very accurate.

[@SabineHossenfelder]

Ha 😜

[@jorriffhdhtrsegg]

I think its inaccurate because the detective called Monk if you've ever seen the show is extremely nervous, and likely has a number of DSM codes for himself. I previously used the term "Monk mode" to mean looking as incompetent and OCD as possible while being an absolute genius as a way to troll people who think about too much about themseves based on external confidence.

[@michaelmueller260]

Hmmm...I thought Monk Mode meant sitting down and shredding the piano with amazing jazz riffs.

[@smartinsilicon]

Affect of social media use requires a dice role, however

[@cosmosveil9355]

I recall seeing a clip of Sabine using a yo-yo in one of her music videos, which means she almost certainly has enough dexterity to be a monk. Her ability to see through obfuscation in scientific papers also suggests having a high wisdom score. Being a particle physicist obviously requires tremendous intelligence and the ability to understand the universe on a fundamental level. Her KZbin following combined with her music talent also indicates a strong charisma score. Conclusion- Sabine is a wizard/bard/monk multiclass who got very good dice rolls during character creation.

[@Moregano]

I definitely have a bit of a problem with mindless scrolling, etc. I've been doing therapy for other reasons and have found that most of my repetitive or compulsive behaviors are actually about avoiding anxiety - mentally checking out or distracting myself in order to not face what's causing my anxiety - rather than repeating a pleasurable dopamine "kick." I would guess there's something about avoidance inherent in most addictions, but dopamine probably plays more of a role in some than in others, especially with drugs.

[@WinstonSmithGPT]

Isn’t that the latest research take on procrastination?

[@alphaomega6023]

@@WinstonSmithGPT Yes, it is.

[@shimrrashai-rc8fq]

I am a "chronic procrastinator" and can confirm this has a lot to do with it. It's typically that I'm avoiding something because I'm either anxious, depressed (i.e. I don't "see the point" in it because of the continuous thoughts of doom or gloom), or else because I feel mentally blocked or something like that.

[@davidwuhrer6704]

It's like you didn't watch the video. Dopamine is not instrumental in addiction, it is if anything symptomatic. Low dopamine levels are associated with addiction. A professor wrote an article on creative procrastination. He's done a lot of things while postponing other things, to the point where people asked him where he finds the time to do all that. That article is not as widely known or read as the KZbin video about how time consuming procrastination is, the one that never questions the assumption that procrastination is something that should be avoided by doing other things instead. Anxiety is not a good thing, is it. Why wouldn't you avoid it? But procrastination does the opposite in most people: They become anxious about approaching deadlines. Substance abuse also does not work the way most people think. The major problem with addiction is that the body becomes reliant on substances. It's not that the substance abuse is so rewarding that it creates and addiction. That doesn't happen. That's just not how dopamine works. The problem is that chronic use means it eventually stops working. There are often other unhealthy side effects of the substances as well. The cause of the addiction is whatever the drug helps with in the first place, not the drug itself; and then the addiction becomes its own problem on top of that. But yea, definitely a good idea to look into what is causing your anxiety in the first place. Address the cause, not the symptom. Alleviating the symptom could help with that though. Maybe.

[@malterann1287]

@@davidwuhrer6704 Hi David. Do you have a link of the article?

[@Jalex92]

I have adhd and I’m glad you talked about focus, and how a “disorder” is when it interferes with your life. The adderall shortage has really hurt a lot of us (like disability hurt) and people dismiss us or make fun of us for being on “speed”.

[@samhughes6895]

As someone diagnosed ADD and prescribed adderall, it really is just speed. It is almost chemically identical to methamphetamine and has the exact same mechanism biologically. In clinical studies patients are unable to differentiate meth from adderall at similar doses. As someone on the drug it’s just good to know these things.

[@TheYoean]

​@@samhughes6895 while it's the same chemically, it's not the same biologically. The dose and especially speed of delivery makes a huge difference. It's like vape is more addictive than cigarettes because it creates a faster and higher spike.

[@michaelcallahan4180]

@@samhughes6895 It's amphetamine. But I think what OP is describing is the dismissive tone about a medicine. the numbers are roughly ~70% of patients were normalized and most of the rest reported improvements. Might be the most effective treatment we have for any neurological condition

[@samhughes6895]

@@michaelcallahan4180 I see what you’re saying and totally agree. As someone totally caught up in this I have a lot of thoughts about the institution surrounding ADD and its pills. For example, there is ample evidence that regular amphetamine dosage PERMANENTLY desensitizes and stunts the reward system in adolescent mammals. So then why are we wantonly giving kids this substance for a disorder that can only be considered a disorder insomuch as it inhibits children/adults from sitting still, inside, looking at a book or computer screen for 6-8 hours a day? The answer is that big pharma makes a big buck, and society gets to ignore the glaring issue of a broken industrial/educational culture.

[@juliavixen176]

@@samhughes6895 Methanol is almost chemically identical to ethanol, so I invite you to drink a glass of wood alcohol.

[@AdrianDanielGuard]

As someone who does science academically and reads many papers, I would advise people to treat social media with very extreme caution. Even if papers found no direct link, it does not mean social media doesn't negatively affect humans. A lot of times it's better to just go with your own instincts.

[@alternateVSNS]

man ... I'm currently in the countryside helping on a farm, basically my work day is 6am to 8am and then my day is free. yet I still find myself desperately scrolling whenever I get signal. it's awful. I left city life to unplug but I can't seem to ever do it ...

[@AdrianDanielGuard]

@@alternateVSNS i know how you feel! I myself work on a farm. I often find myself scrolling in those idle times, when there isn't much to be done or i don't have enough time to engage in something meaningful. Or, I scroll when i don't have enough energy to do something useful, but have too much energy to go to bed. However i have mostly defeated this scrolling and you can do it too. I create stuff to do out of thin air, just to have an excuse not to pick up the phone. When I don't have the energy to do something else, i just stare at the sky from a chair, or play like a little kid with a rock or stick. When i have both energy and time, I clean my house or read a book or write, or open the phone and use it to write in my notes app, watch KZbin documentaries. It also helps to delete your social apps from your phone, even if you keep your accounts.

[@theostapel]

@@alternateVSNS Reality bites. Hope you get your happiness and your balance

[@CST1992]

Spoken like a true scientist

[@theostapel]

@@CST1992 In agreement - correct. Be the master of one's thinking. Fare thee well - on life's journey

[@robertAGC]

I wouldn’t call it “monk mode,” but I gave up Facebook because constantly scrolling through my feed was causing anxiety, which led to problems with self-control. So it was definitely having a negative impact on my life. It has been a couple years at this point, and while I’m uncertain about whether I’m more productive, I am less anxious and less irritable, which is better for me and my family. I also modified how I consumed news, with a shift in focus from world/national news to local news. This has been helpful too.

[@jannikheidemann3805]

The feed is the output of a machine that tries to maximize engagement, and mostly it does so by eliciting strong emotions, rather than providing useful information or furthering genuine social interaction.

[@laestrella9727]

Yes, reduced globalism.

[@UCjNrKLyRJI-abFA8qiNo92Q]

fb feed is made to predict your emotions and control what you see to be contradictory in order to manipulate you into becoming dependent even when you dislike what you are seen

[@tuomasronnberg5244]

Social media is the single worst invention. It makes people unhappy, adults that are unable to focus, and increases social unrest. It's a net negative on all levels.

[@ReligionAndMaterialismDebunked]

:p

[@lz43p15]

Dear Sabine I must admit that today I challenged bad luck as last week while watching your video I had a heart attack. But as you can see, more than superstition, the desire and joy of seeing and listening to your videos prevailed. A good dose of dopamine a week makes me happy. BTW Monk mode fit you.

[@SabineHossenfelder]

Alex, I'm sorry to hear! But glad you are around this week to let us know about it!

[@lz43p15]

@@SabineHossenfelder What I wrote is true but I don't want to make it pathetic. Now I'm recovering. Thank you so much for your wish

[@kevley26]

Damn Sabine's deadpan humor hits so hard its giving the homies hard attacks.

[@johnbloom1109]

@@lz43p15 lol you didn't have a heart attack

[@TerryBollinger]

Alex, I'm so sorry about your heart attack, but also delighted to see that you're still with us and commenting! I've noticed your comments several times and appreciated your insights. Stay on the mend for yourself, your family, and your friends - but also so we can continue hearing from you!

[@viscache1]

“I won’t tell you which DSM #’s because I don’t want to discourage you from projecting your own problems on me…” I just found this channel and have some of the best one liners to repeat EVER from Sabine! Wonderful!

[@theostapel]

This persuance of one-liners could be a problem. Let me just check my massive publication - on the mental sphere - of current humanity

[@twinfred3160]

As someone who suffers with extreme severe anxiety I can totally relate to her. I would stop eating for days at a time as a punishment. I worry a lot about my life, everyone around me and pleasing everyone. It's absolutely crippling, so glad she got the help she needed, lovely young lady it's so sad that society has 1 in 3 people suffering mental health issues. I hope everyone seeks help

[@APOLLINAIREBARTHOLOMIEU]

People need to realise that people with anxiety disorders have oversensitised nerves, it's not a simple case of manning up and getting over it.

[@patriaciasmith3499]

Can you help with the reliable source I would really appreciate it. Many people talk about how mushrooms and psychedelics treats anxiety, but nobody talks about where to get them. Very hard to get a reliable source here in Australia. Really need!

[@patriaciasmith3499]

Please, how do I reach doctor Greg?

[@elizabethwilliams6651]

He’s on the internet

[@AnjeloValeriano]

Microdosing helped me get out of the pit of my worst depressive episode, a three year long episode, enough to start working on my mental health.

[@francescosamassa9854]

Quitting social media was one of the best thing I've ever done in my life: I'm calmer, more focused, I crave less attention from others, I don't compare myself to unreal standards anymore and I appreciate much more real life relationships with people.

[@dandavid2027]

Bro you on KZbin. Still wasting ur time

[@pallll12r]

​@@dandavid2027 KZbin is clearly different from the other one but ok

[@dolphinboy9717]

@@dandavid2027 hows that? yt isn't bad, its all in how you use it. Definitely not a time waste if you use it right

[@ro4eva]

@@dandavid2027 -- KZbin is fundamentally a video-sharing site with the ability to comment on some of them. Twitter (a.k.a. Cuntopia) is fundamentally a comment-sharing site with the ability to link some multimedia into said comments. I would argue there's a difference.

[@luckybarrel7829]

Same bro, no twitter facebook etc has been amazing. I haven't quit YT coz I get to learn so much here and develop my hobbies further.

[@mousemade1]

So refreshing to see [as always] information presented with a sensible and engaging perspective! Also, I love your wry sense of humour. Thank you for all your excellent posts.

[@edthoreum7625]

6:36

[@wander1027]

So right about the ocd. As someone who has been diagnosed with ocd, everytime someone claims "my ocd" becuase something is out of order etc, I think to myself "you have no idea what it is to have ocd"

[@sageinit]

They just mean OCPD instead of OCD but they don't know it

[@stemcareers8844]

​@@sageinit No. They mean having a quirk or habit or doing something totally normal (loke being neat) but for some reason they want to brand it a disorder. It's usually neither OCD nor OCPD.

[@kevoreilly6557]

The pedantry is ironic

[@squamish4244]

Lol they have no idea of the murderous insanity of the actual disorder and how it completely dominates your life. Do you spend a massive amount of your energy managing the endless looping thoughts in your head, while still losing friends, relationships and careers to the disorder? No? Then don't talk about how OCD you are. OCD is one of the reasons I hate all these ridiculous health protocols. Or "This is what alcohol does to your brain" etc. I'm like - "Uh-huh. And this is what OCD does to your _life._ So what if I have more than the recommended two drinks a week - OCD does far more damage to me than booze could ever do, unless I was a literal alcoholic. And all those health protocols - they are useless against OCD. You need strong, specific treatments to deal with OCD, and if it's severe enough, even psychosurgery. Speaking of which, I'm now on the waiting list for non-invasive focused ultrasound to do just that - by destroying a tiny piece of tangled circuitry deep in my brain, located by an fMRI.

[@stevepatterson3614]

My first red flag went up when I saw one of my fave physicists on social media post a vid on a topic not related to physics. 2nd flag when I realized the topic was social media, which she def should tread lightly on to avoid seeming to have bias, yet the vid has a misleading title… she admits LATE in the vid that having a disorder in social media is real, yet the title implies the opposite be bashing hard on the phrase “Dopamine addiction”. 3rd red flag was that it wasn’t until Waaaay late in the vid that we hear Sabine utter anything that give credit to core concepts here, which is: - Dopamine is instrumental in the creation of habits (good and bad) - Our society is recognizing we can have an unhealthy habit with social media - Though the term “dopamine addiction”, “is not a formally recognized diagnosis and monk mode” is not an officially recognized treatment, the concept of addiction involving the dopamine system is well-supported by scientific research; similarly self awareness and temperament are reasonable first steps to take if you feel you need them.

[@LeZylox]

Damn

[@misatoryusaki5744]

I'm glad to see this in the comments - the same things also bothered me. On the whole, I don't think she knows what she is on about - maybe her views have dropped or something, or she got annoyed by some of those "gurus" (who are kind of annoying tbh), so she wanted to make a video about it. But I think discrediting the whole thing is kind of silly and I do think she is cherry picking things. Whilst some of those things are true (e.g. dopamine is involved in anticipation and habit building more so than pleasure), she omits other things like the fact that "monk mode" can theoretically work on the principle of re-upregulating receptors - all neurotransmitter receptors get down-regulated the more you use them - and this is true of most receptors such as dopamine, insulin, serotonin, histamine and so forth. So limiting stimulation of the receptor can work like a soft "reset". So yes, the dopamine detox mechanism might not be "reward threshold reset", but perhaps it still helps people because it has a mechanism of "reward anticipation and motivation reset" - the more you experience constant anticipation of rewards, the less they motivate you to act (dopamine motivates behaviour) and the higher reward anticipation you need to get something done. This is the experience of a lot of people - I can confirm this from my own psychotherapy practice and also from reading that I've done around the topic.

[@DiogenesNephew]

Yep. This video is absurd bullshit, but 98% of the comments somehow agree. The world is nonsensical.

[@TheFachen]

Recognizing its easy to criticize from the sidelines I agree. If we try to corner the science around psychology and behavior by utilizing specific metrics like dopamine mechanism rather than holistic approaches we're going to have a very rigid clinical impression of human biology. We need to be pragmatic not prideful. I also agree with the risk of bias in approaching this. Subconsciously, if my profession involved social media ( particularly someone who's gained notoriety on social media), my self identity is going to be threatened if I believed I was causing harm. I'm going to approach this with loaded expectations and a hope that there is a crack in the popular opinion to feel secure. I can only speak anecdotally, but digital addictions feel very real and very similar to other more recognized vices to me. Nicotine, caffeine, sex, food are all similar in their transient high that videogames, social media, movies etc. provide to me. They can result in the same habituation. Appearing dismissive or mocking toward a very real impact on society and the concerns of the public is frustrating to see from someone I respect as a deep thinker. I also want to point out the fact that simply adding a disclaimer to get professional treatment is not a panacea to layman conjecture. Mental health is nigh impossible to address with professional treatment alone given its penetration into the population, and the industry is rife with exploitative and archaic approaches (insurance, wait lists, geographic access, care discrepancies). We just don't have the resources and we won't muster them by hand waving. This is where mere science alone fails us - we can be technically right and completely ineffective in dealing with a problem. We need to accept all forms of treatment (self help, religion, philosophy, medicine, psychotherapy) to better approach the problem until we fully understand it. And since we're all still part of the ongoing transformation of the information age we won't fully grasp it until we're on the other side.

[@martinb4272]

She starts off by making a mockery of the man that became a self help guru after returning from his monastic retreat - and it is worthy of critique. But then she falls into the equivalent variant within science; as the comments above have rightly pointed out she clearly has no specialised understanding of the core points of addiction. It then comes down to the rethorical 'appeal to authority', which is as often abused by people speaking as 'scientists'. Instead of reviewing the research within a web of knowledge about those fundamentals, she is merely presenting each article in a non-coherent way. I generally have a lot of respect for her, but this comes off as arrogance with a lack of self insight.

[@Yournamehere368]

" I have alot of those in my record, but I wont tell you witch because I don't want to discourage you from projecting your own problems on me" This had me rolling. Love your delivery of these joke.

[@guidosillaste4297]

Witch or which?

[@logaandm]

I had a friend 40 years ago who said "it was the wanting" not "the having" that was the fun part of our shared hobby. Pretty insightful.

[@ianaustin5541]

I love the dry humor😂! She cracks jokes without changing her mode of expression, making the jokes sound as scientific as the topic she`s talking about. Not the slightest hint of interruption in her speech. Hilarious👏👍 While still not missing out to allow minor visual adjustments for emphasis.

[@em945]

...yup, doesn't skip a beat...

[@alkaholic4848]

It's natural - Germans don't have a sense of humour, they can't laugh, those jokes will've been written using formulas based on extensive statistical linguistic and cultural analysis for the sake of the audience.

[@ianaustin5541]

@sock 😄 I know what you mean LOL. I`m German, so hm... not sure but I think Germans are indeed a bit less giggly and maybe less shouting. There are quite a few german comedians who take that dry attitude to the extreme and use it as their trademark.

[@bookdmb]

They would be more funny if she changed her inflection to signal a joke, though.

[@ianaustin5541]

@@bookdmb I hear ya. I understand what you mean🖐🏼🙂

[@oumarh.gassama8063]

The subtlety of the jokes are one a complete another level here. I'm here for both the awesome quality content AND the perfectly timed jokes and even single words in context with the video feed.

[@HansLemurson]

"The plausible ideas are the ones you should be most careful with" Well said! It's easiest to be duped by things that seem to make sense, and let wishful thinking become your truth.

[@ramseyrodriguez8515]

I find it troubling that she is using one single study of 37 individuals to “disprove” all other causation links? Also social media is such a broad and vast definition, what about loot boxes in online games, and their relation to gambling? I find this Sabines video problematic, generating the same kind of “rush to conclusions” that is trying to portray as negative. At best, the most “objective” conclusion I might take From this video of her is that more research is needed. I recommend Anna Lambke’s book Dopamine Nation, she does a wonderful job explaining the current science, and even if arguing that doesn’t fit the addiction criteria (that is still in work), there seems a lot of mechanisms into play.

[@davidwuhrer6704]

Things that are so obvious that nobody sees the need to question them are practically always false. "If everyone agrees with me, I must be wrong." An observation shared by many philosophers. Careful though: Water is wet; everyone agrees with that. Not because it's wrong, but because it's axiomatic. (It's also wrong, but that's besides the point.)

[@HansLemurson]

@@davidwuhrer6704 No, I don't think that's true. That's survivorship bias. The bad ideas that persist are the ones that hide the best by looking like good ideas. The obviously bad ideas are obviously bad, and get eliminated very quickly, so we don't really have to deal with them.

[@davidwuhrer6704]

@@HansLemurson If something is obviously wrong, nobody will believe it anyway, even if it's true. I'm talking about the things that are so obviously true that nobody questions them. That those are practically always wrong has nothing to do with survivor bias. They are not hiding behind good ideas. They are not even adjacent to good ideas.

[@HansLemurson]

@@davidwuhrer6704 It has everything to do with survivor bias. Most things that are accepted as "obviously true" _are_ in fact true. It's just that the longest lived falsehoods are the ones that "seemed true" and were never questioned, so when you see something wrong it's almost always that kind of thing.

[@bellegoodheart]

You are very right about the OCD. Now almost every influencer on social media is attributing their actions and inactions with OCD. Something that is considered normal, they brand it as OCD...People who really have the condition will be the ones suffering in the end.

[@insekta1701]

I really hate this ‘thing’ of calling personal behaviors ‘I’m so OCD about ____’, and how I constantly see and hear word ‘obsessed’ thrown around for people’s love or like of anything from a cookies recipe to some stupid cosmetic product, and even videos about animals and attributing ‘obsession’ to animals, like a specific kitty in a video who really enjoys playing with almonds as toys. I find it irksome, and extremely insensitive that people do this, while trying to sound ‘deep’ or ‘complicated’. As a kid, I used to accompany my mother to her college credit clinical experience job at care home for people with severe mental disabilities and mental health issues, and I saw many men and woman acting out their compulsions to avoid the punishment for not doing so, and I saw one woman wash her hands so much that her skin had bleeding cracks and pits in it. It was terrible. I was in the second grade, and I sat every day at the kitchen table to do my schoolwork and play with my toys and saw this poor woman washing and washing over and over again, and I’ll never forget her. I really hate that people have no idea what they’re saying and what meaning words have in regard to OCD, and if you call them out on it, they make up some story about how they know someone with OCD, which you can immediately tell absolute bullshit.

[@Reedemedknight]

Yeah we are- I’ve been diagnosed and medicated for severe obsessive compulsive disorder for 18 years…I remember when the same people romanticizing this disorder right now were making fun of me and starting rumors about me in school due to compulsions and obsession-fueled panic attacks I would display. Had to eventually be homeschooled.

[@davidwuhrer6704]

I'm so OCD, you're such an aspie, stop being such a schizo, you're paranoid, lol I'm such a geek, I'm defo on the spectrum, it's my ADD, I need to detox from this or that addiction, I'm so obsessed, you're such a nerd, I'm demi, I'm ace, stop being so anal, you're mental, I'm crazy, you're weird.

[@RickySTT]

I stopped throwing out “OCD” casually when it dawned on me that my compulsions were not manifestations of a disorder.

[@MrMikkyn]

I recently saw a video of Tim Star on tiktok faking that he was having an seizure, “I have a seizure, I have a seizure, I have a seizure”, recording himself on a livestream on tiktok, sitting in his car and shaking his hands. Psychiatric and neurological conditions have now been appropriated by individuals engaging in performative mental health, and the appropriation of psychiatric language by the mainstream discourse on social media. Its pretty much rendered the real suffering meaningless because all the terms are over-used online now, and are more like personality labels.

[@ericnadeau4767]

Seriously, Sabine is not only a great source of knowledge, but an underappreciated stand up artist. If I believed in spirit animals, Sabine would be mine.

[@susanthejew6351]

con artist* but please tell me more about your boner for freud, since it's mostly his words she is parroting

[@-na-nomad6247]

Who are you calling an animal ?

[@akashsinha2880]

This one is buying comments and doling out false information and pseudo science to people. Never trust anything or any comment on KZbin.

[@compositestechbb9087]

I'm waiting to catch her on the Joe Rogan Experience soon lol.

[@sallylauper8222]

The question is "which animal is she?"

[@SooPRKrTkl]

I am currently experiencing the strange disconnect that comes between one and their societal endeavors, once they begin seeking themselves and isolating for disciplinary purposes. People seem to be very impatient with my desire to not go to baseball games, or have pointless company, or go party, or basically anything. I am busy getting my existence into focus and it causes others to believe that I dislike them now, or that I wasn't genuine to begin with. It does NOT matter how much I explain what I am pursuing, they STILL vy for my attention and throw shade when I'm like, "nah... I'm good right now, maybe a raincheck"... I feel like that buzz phrase "I'm working on myself" has been diluted into a vapid vehicle to vain praise - but certainly not taken seriously. This perspective may hinge on the circles we keep. I find that I don't really feel compelled to spend time with others where I am anyway, but I have completely changed in the past 2 years - I used to make it important to challenge my threshold of tolerance socially... But now I need to be alone. I do my best rationalizing then. Im in monk mode for sure

[@brucecheesman2781]

Another high quality presentation. You are always very honest.

[@commieRob]

I know that causation correlation is a basic thing, but thank you so much for calling it out. Ive seen hundreds of KZbin science videos, including those made by trained scientists, the completely ignore the issue.

[@entelin]

This video is great timing. I've been working on becoming a self help guru myself and have developed a new psychotherapy regimen I call "Monk-ey Mode" it's prefaced by the principal that you should just do whatever you want in any given moment. I've been researching this by playing hundreds of hours of Elden ring, and procrastinating on doing my taxes. So far so good.

[@saleem2991]

At first I thought "not another one of those self-help bros" 😂

[@stevemawer848]

@@saleem2991 Always read to the end before making a judgement! 🙂 Then you know if they're an idiot!

[@JoHouse533]

Underrated comment. Good idea, perfectly executed. A+

[@grubfoot5707]

Just tried your regimen. I got naked in public and started throwing my poo at people. Currently hiding from the cops up a tree.

[@BenjaminBjornsen]

5 years without social media. The first year was hard, and it didnt feel like it was worth it. But after that horrible lonely year, things normalised. I got more focus, more direct contacts with friends and family- even befriended some neighbours and regulary play football with their kids. I started school again, studying to become an electrical Engineer. Overall, I just feel better, sleep better, eat better, everything is just better. But I would never quit watching educational entertainment on KZbin etc. I would never ditch you Sabine :)

[@FloppaTheBased]

"dopamine addiction does not exist" *sponsored by big tech lobby

[@BenjaminBjornsen]

@@3x157I disagree. And I never said it was evil. Its the addictive nature of it, and its designed that way, its like opium. And opium isn't evil, but its addictive.

[@TorianTammas]

@Benjamin - I stopped doing something which consumed 50% of my free time and I used this time to do other things. Surprise!

[@BenjaminBjornsen]

@@TorianTammasI spent most of my time doing one thing only, now I spend most of my time doing a multitude of things. And my life is better for it. Surprised?

[@SahilSingh-bm6ro]

​@@TorianTammas why did it consume 50% of his time? How easy is it to switch? How many people actually switch?

[@RW-rt5nd]

Depriving yourself of routine things does seem to resensitize you to things. For example, I couldn't listen to music for about 12 weeks and, upon resumption, it never sounded better. The body probably tends to achieve a certain equilibrium with neurotransmitters regardless of your environment but desensitization and resensitization definitely seem like real psychological phenomena though, as you say, the real story is likely more complex.

[@gabbar51ngh]

Same. I agree these self help gurus are simplifying things but eliminating things from life which are unnecessary do work.

[@MaximoPower2024]

True. This video is misleading in suggesting that addictive behaviors are a myth, or that the reward system is not involved. There is scientific evidence on these issues, and this video does not deny it, it just hides it.

[@davidwuhrer6704]

@@MaximoPower2024 She never said addictive behaviours are a myth, she very explicitly pointed out what the accepted medical terms are, where to find them, what they actually mean, and how dopamine is not the reward hormone. You must have missed that part. What were you doing while not paying attention to half the video?

[@kalmmonke5037]

that is simply matter of novelty being more interesting

[@MrCmon113]

@@MaximoPower2024 Sure addictions exist, but they're not due to there being too much or little of some neurotransmitter.

[@TraceyDeLaney]

So...obviously it's the dopamine hit that I get in anticipation of these videos every week that keeps me coming back -- oh, and the sharp wit and good information. 😄

[@felipetolomio]

Social media is not social. It is a free marketing platform. It is just media. Socialising cannot be replaced by virtual media

[@MJ-uk6lu]

It depends. If all you do is randomly scrolling TikTok, then perhaps. But my family uses Facebook to connect with other relatives, so it's actually sometimes social. But I guess users like that don't finance Zucc very much, so he wants more bullshiters aka influencers on his platform. Perhaps it's also due to him being shocked that most people don't want to be in teletubby world with expensive plastic brick on their heads as well.

[@Gorilla_Jones]

Sabine is an addiction all its own.

[@classica1fungus]

Im a fiend for Sabine

[@davidpaulcarlson8763]

Haaaaa!

[@nicktecky55]

You could say watching Sabine is a habit... I'll get me coat.

[@RamonInNZ]

@@nicktecky55 A white coat?

[@BigDsGaming2022]

love her to death my fav professor

[@cemacmillan]

Thank you for making clear the point that in one person what is a habit, is in another a life-shaping problem if the action is ego-dystonic.

[@jannikheidemann3805]

That totally messes with the human proclivity to make others thier role models.

[@stylis666]

@@jannikheidemann3805 Yes it does. We should look into that and be way more careful with it for other reasons as well, for instance our tendency to accept plausible sounding ideas more easily from people we find sympathetic than from research papers that have the data to back up ideas. We even go so far as to doubt a consensus over a layman's wild guess. And although it's good to doubt both papers and lay people, taking a baker's word on the environment over a consensus of decades of research of thousands of specialists is probably not a great thing, yet it is socially accepted and most often even encouraged to do so in most communities. I have found that my intentions changed who I find sympathetic and pleasurable to be around. I used to have a lot of problems I didn't know how to fix and it gave me a tendency to find people more sympathetic who made things up and said comforting words. Then I learned what caused my problems and I started working on them and I started to find people who make things up very annoying and a waste of time and a damaging factor to people and societies. Now my tendency is toward finding people more sympathetic who point out things I wasn't aware of, encouraging me to think about those things and look into them to learn more. I have always tried to find and mimic role models and it always lead to disappointments in their characters and motivations, except for a handful of people that I never thought I was mimicking a lot from: my mother, brother and his wife. They've always shown to be fallible and to want to learn and improve. This prevented me from putting them on a pedestal and allowed me to copy what worked without tying it to a specific role model. Now I that I finally know who I am and who I want to be and have grown into that person I also finally see that most of my character that I did copy from people was from sincere and kind people around me, like my mother, brother, and my brother's wife. And for some reason I don't easily accept as true what they tell me just because I find them sympathetic. I still do have that tendency with other people, especially when I hope they will find me sympathetic. I am just less worried that my family will hate me for having an opinion they don't like. After all, I do avoid people who have opinions I despise, but I will talk to my family members about it instead of avoiding them and the people around me seem to have the same pattern in making similar choices.

[@dreimeterpeter1157]

This channel is incredible, all this research data processed into an engaging presentation. Thank you so much

[@nexus4dev]

As someone who's addicted to learning and knowledge, I find it quite hard to maintain my goals because I always have the desire to learn something new and it hits me with dopamine

[@nexus4dev]

@@3x157 Yes it is a problem to me, because I want to learn too many things at once and then I don't know what to finish and what not, or what would be more useful for the future!

[@lizzyl.2486]

Not to be that annoying person on the internet, but have you looked into adhd?

[@jacobhempel1855]

I feel that. I have the same issue. What adds to the problem is the constant personal beratement as a result of switching topics all the time and not focusing on one of two which throws you into an existential crisis and, eventually, depression.

[@nexus4dev]

What sad and true about your comment is that I'm already in depression, I can't control my self for some reason, also I became emotionally weak@@jacobhempel1855

[@platzpropeller858]

Oh my god this is the first time that I have seen someone else facing this problem and openly admitting to it I always feel like anyone who I would talk to about that problem would laugh into my face as excessive learning is seen as socially desirable behaviour - the more education the better... Every time I came across information that gave me a particularly big dopamine rush ( aka something that I felt like was incredibly interesting, the kind of " WOW - no way" moments ") I always immediately get the urge to share that with anyone who I had thought would be as enthusiastic as me about these things but as it turns out they are not even remotely interested most of the time Sometimes they at least tried to fake interest because they knew this stuff is important to me but I could always tell they were not sincere and that wasn't exactly as satisfying as real enthusiasm I shared these moments fewer and fewer times until I eventually gave up trying , instead these Eureka-moments turned into constant reminder that my brain probably works inherently different and that I am doomed be alone for the rest of my life Not only, did I believe that no one understands me, but I came to the conclusion that there isn't anyone in existence who would even be able to do so, forcing me to live in existential isolation. Your comment gave me a little bit of hope I don't feel like an Alien trapped on earth anymore and for that I wanna thank you

[@grayaj23]

The problem with influencers advocating for discipline is that they are probably the kinds of people who find discipline relatively easy. If I wasn't already dealing with anxiety, depression, motivation and obsessive behaviors, I might find that kind of discipline easier to achieve. So this boils down for me to where all self-help pseudocontent boils down: The solution to my problem is to solve my problem. Once I've solved my problem, I'll be able to do the things I need to do to solve it. I have a plan to eliminate procrastination from my life once and for all. I'll start it tomorrow and let you all know how it goes.

[@UlyssesWachowski-vw5vi]

Top tier comment.

[@catsnorkel]

The problem with influencers advocating for discipline is that they have no idea what they are talking about

[@tayzonday]

I saw the thumbnail and immediately liked it more than any Disney Star Wars.

[@UlyssesWachowski-vw5vi]

Am I crazy or did you also leave a comment under a Patrick Teahan video? You are an incredibly cool dude and absolutely know what’s up on KZbin. Have a good day my friend.

[@susanthejew6351]

pseudo intellectuals everywhere

[@the-lettere]

Love you man

[@BassRemedy]

right there with u XD

[@tdkage]

How about now? 😂😂

[@edreusser4741]

I have watched all your videos, and I thus assure you and any interested viewers with an absolutely straight face that I am smarter for doing so. I also get loud and abrasive when confronted with someone advocating string theory or discovering secrets by building bigger particle accelerators. But I figure those are just side effects I can live with.

[@vocalsunleashed]

I'm not a native English speaker so I had to look up what it means to be abrasive. I am now wondering why those things make you act that way.

[@timecarpet]

​@@vocalsunleashedIt makes sense if you know, but yeah, being abrasive will hardly ever change anyone's mind

[@moscanaveia]

Frankly, parroting someone else's points to the point of being annoying for internet cookie points is just one of the saddest consequences of the parassocial relationships people establish with social media personalities

[@timecarpet]

@moscanaveia I can see that, but there are definitely worse things to be parroting, you know...

[@moscanaveia]

@@timecarpet Just don't be annoying, is all I'm saying

[@MizMeow212]

So glad I found your channel Sabine! I love the topics addressed, the detailed research done on the various subjects and the straight faced delivery with just the right combination of sarcasm and humor. Also love how you called Jay Shetty a self-help guru cliché. I think of him as a scammer. It’s mind boggling to me how easy it is for him to manipulate the masses into giving him money for inexistent expertise and in some cases plagiarized content. If he was ever really a monk, he’s not portraying those values, as I doubt they teach in monasteries how to rip off people.

[@rayoflight62]

Happy 1st April, Dr. Hossenfelder; and thank you for this video! I'm happy to confirm that not being on social media has been one of the wisest choices of my life! Greetings from the UK...

[@Pastamistic]

I've never done "monk mode" but my mental health definitely improves when I cut out the vast majority of my social media engagement. It certainly doesn't seem like an issue with dopamine. It's just a bad habit that leads to poor productivity and it's an extremely low value way to spend time leading to little personal satisfaction. The convenient and immediate connectivity with smart phones makes social media access the easiest way to find free entertainment. So it's easy to get stuck spending most of your time mindlessly droning through social media instead of doing something that's personally satisfying. There's a lot that I've learned through social media though. Like Sabine's KZbin channel. Which has information I likely never would have come across otherwise. I feel like you can learn new things at an incredibly fast rate thanks to social media if you can learn how to sort through the mountains of BS. It's typically a shallow knowledge though; it can't replace the in depth education of a particular subject that needs work and education to understand.

[@UlyssesWachowski-vw5vi]

Top tier comment. I completely agree on all points.

[@BenjaminCronce]

Social media helped me learn about myself. I didn't realize how different of a person I was from the "norm". It was only through having arguments with internet people that I realized this. Helped me identify my root cause for general anxiety that has plagued me for my entire life.

[@kencory2476]

I quit social media of all kinds in 2019 and experienced a real uptick in my happiness. It wasn't long-lived, of course, but I think I still feel better for not using it overall. From my perspective, I think it's the kind of social media that encourages habitual scrolling (like facebook and twitter, though I don't know much about twitter) is the most damaging to my mental health. Media where you can genuinely learn stuff or enjoy art and music, like KZbin, is mostly beneficial. I don't feel addicted to KZbin, any more than I feel addicted to reading books.

[@fortunes_youtube]

I feel the same way. I took a break off Twitter in 2020. Regular exercise, good eating, and consistent sleep. Best I've probably ever felt. Sadly I'm back on social media, but I'm much better at controlling what I care to interact with. Curating genuine interests, removing stressful interactions, and not feeling committed is what I try to aim for.

[@ramseyrodriguez8515]

Dopamine Nation from Anna Lembke does a wonderful work explaining this and other dopamine mechanisms. Even if one doesn’t want to consider it “addiction”, there’s a lot of biological mechanism at play in modern work and Lembke does a wonderful work explaining them and the science behind them. Also, dopamine released in anticipation is something that have been documented in studies about gambling addiction, I find it weird that, given that is in the DSM, Sabine has passed by that kind of studies.

[@Sextus70]

​@Ramsey Rodriguez Indeed. There's a harmful component in most social media and other modern forms of entertainment that can be compared to gambling. Maybe it isn't as bad as a drug addiction, but they can definitely be psychologically detrimental if you don't learn to put limits and choose wisely the kind of content you consume.

[@0ptimal]

Hmm, I think for some it can also happen as an information addiction. I typically do not fool around with social media, but I do always feel compelled to be listening or watching something interesting that is potentially teaching me something I didn't know. I feel like I do it too much.

[@jpegjake]

Sabine always starts her video making you think she doesnt have much complex info to share in order to lull you into listening. She really does organize her speech into a perfectly concise nugget.

[@fannyalbi9040]

any good presentation need great preparation or homework for that matter.

[@rudra62]

And, sometimes, the telephone will ring. 🙃

[@Yupppi]

Only thing I know is that ever since I quit opening Facebook 10 years ago and then Twitter some years ago, my mental health has been better and I've been more productive. I haven't felt as lonely and meaningless or angry. Also whenever I cut my time socializing online and do stuff like clean home, read for some hours, go for a walk, train with weights or sit a night practicing guitar playing, I feel deeper satisfaction and relaxation and less anxiety and depressive feelings disappear. And of course meditation. In short any activity outside digital technology and people that takes focus and lets your brain "speak" to you. After those activities my emotional stability is much higher.

[@BobrLovr]

Could be placebo.

[@scientia.veritas]

​@@BobrLovrwhen every single person says that their life improved after quitting social media, it is pretty much not a placebo.

[@strategicsage7694]

@@scientia.veritas Except every single person doesn't say that.

[@asdfssdfghgdfy5940]

@@BobrLovri think in this case it's one of those things where if it works it works. It's completely impossible to take a decent statistical measurement for this stuff because the act of getting off social media is likely coupled with other conscious and sub conscious changes. If you think you have a problem with social media I don't see how abstaining from it can be anything but good.

[@BobrLovr]

@@scientia.veritas except for literally every single person does NOT say that lol nice try tho sweetie

[@seionne85]

Great video Sabine, thank you. Ive been trying to reroute my dopamine response to accomplishing things, for example focusing on how much bettter I'll feel once the laundry is done, then focusing on that feeling while doing the laundry. Once im done with the task ill take just a minute to bask in it before coming up with a new task. I think the shorter the task the better this works, but it has been difficult for me.

[@annebananne6835]

I do the same, for years now and feel freaking good about myself and my life. It changes your focus. I guess you could call it the classic: appreciation for the little things.

[@musicman9023]

Setting up small, achievable goals and reminding yourself how good you feel after you check them off your list is a great habit to combat persistent procrastination as well!

[@moondoggie32]

OMG, completely missing the message from God! Don't do your laundry! Why are you training yourself to be a slave to someone else's idea of how to behave! Go outside! Have some fun! If you get bored enough, do your laundry -- but not because you "have to."

[@seionne85]

@@moondoggie32 that's maybe the dumbest thing I've ever heard

[@MrCmon113]

You are thinking about things more and your behavior improves as a consequence. "Dopamine" doesn't help us understand what's going on there at all.

[@DeyvsonMoutinhoCaliman]

I bought a house in the countryside because my girlfriend got pregnant, we married and it was cheaper here. But it took a month to get internet here, and around two months for it to be minimally decent. I was quite happy without internet, we slept very early, I did a lot of the work around the house, there were many things to be fixed. I learned so much, did so many things I didn't think I was able to do, like electrician and mason work. Then we got good internet and it's amazing how lazier I became. I still do a lot of work, built a house for our water pump, now I will build a house for the dog... But I feel like I am forcing myself to do those things, because I want to go back to the front of the computer, I don't feel fully motivated as before. Still interned is necessary, I need it for my job as a contractor, I can do 90% of my work from my house, my wife needs it as a teacher... It's good to watch and see everything... But there is much to be said for a world without internet, it's actually easier to be happy.

[@hardcorestymie]

I can relate. I had the same flip phone for 13 years and only upgraded because they got rid of 3G rendering it useless. Now I can't live without my smartphone. In which I am on my second since batteries often don't last that far beyond 2 years. I know I was fine without it, and I knew that if I did upgrade then I wouldn't be able to live without it. No apps on flip phone. Filling up my 3rd screen of installed app icons now. Hurricane Sandy, 10 days without power. Managed to find things to do, went to bed early, got up early, more relaxing. Admittedly, can be a little boring hence going to bed early, but getting up early was nice as was not being late for work as usual. So, is my next phone going to be a flip phone or am I going to simulate the benefits of being without power now that I have them and only use as needed? Heck no, I'm going to microwave crappy food and binge watch netflix. Probably use my phone to have my prescriptions delivered so I don't have to walk that 1/8th of a mile and get the exercise I desperately need. And not drive that round trip as that would also be effort. Unlike the 3 mile walk I did some days after Hurricane Sandy that I enjoyed for something to do.

[@jettanahong92]

Thanks!

[@YogonKalisto]

glad you clarified the anticipation re dopamine connect. having just viewed a recent Robert Sapolsky conversation, your vid snuggles in nicely. reflecting upon my own life, i can definitely see the thrill of anticipation (dopamine) for "the thing" and the letdown after, or even during "the thing". movie hype is a perfect example.

[@tjentalman]

the unexpected reward thing is called a variable-ratio schedule of reinforcement. Also since novel stimuli and context changes can cause increased dopamine, scrolling on something like tiktok where you can't predict when the new stimulating video will arise and can get so many context switches is very addictive and can keep you up and hooked

[@avjake]

Thank you for this, Sabine. I have had mixed feelings about social media, and this video seems to explain those feelings well.

[@ponchovanillabean8074]

"Having less gray matter is kind of not good." I had to pause the video after that due to my laughing so hard. I love your sense of humor. YOU, and your videos, are a dopamine rush for me. Your delivery, your incredible cuteness (that is meant as a compliment) and your voice are all enthralling to me. Thank you for existing.

[@crschoen123]

Correlation ≠ Causation Thank you so much for emphasizing this!

[@elmariachi5133]

Correlation ­ Causation. There nearly always is a causal relation in between correlations. We just can't prove and we don't know the direction of dependency.

[@derblaue]

@@elmariachi5133 Or not. Search for spurious correlations if you want a large amount of counter examples.

[@reaper4191]

​@elmariachi5133 I can't help but feel this response is a bit pedantic and intellectually dishonest. The keyword you said is "nearly." When people say correlation does not equal causation, they are speaking in the context of generality. While it is important to acknowledge events that occur often together and use them to assist in making predictions of the future, they should never be used to draw a conclusion before any research is conducted. And just so I'm not coming across as intellectually dishonest myself, I'm aware that you probably already know everything I've said. But I think it's important for everyone to practice intellectual honesty through interpreting people's comments in a way that sounds the "least incorrect" to you, as that was most likely the interpretation they were going for. It is a major source of arguments on the internet, which can be avoided entirely as long as all parties try their best to see eye to eye with each other and not disagree about minute details for the sake of arguing.

[@elmariachi5133]

@@reaper4191 As you might have noticed, the problem here is: language. MY issue with the expression "Correlation ≠ Causation" or identically "Correlation is not Causation" is, that most humans in most cases interprete this as 'an improble relation' - while in reality it's the opposite.

[@reaper4191]

@elmariachi5133 What makes you think most people think that expression means that? It'd make more sense to me if most people think it means exactly what it sounds like: "correlation and causation is not an identical relation."

[@michaelfried3123]

I've been in monk mode for a couple years now, zero anti-social media in my life, I feel and look at the world in a much more mentally stable way now.

[@michaelfried3123]

@D R I don't consider YT social media, although I know some people might. Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Snapchat, TikTok, those are social media sites, none of which I use, a few of which I've never used.

[@tomblaise]

@D R Although YT technically is social media, watching channels that teach you something in an easy to understand way, with visuals and intelligent commentary can be a productive use of your time! When people talk about monk mode or quitting social media, it’s usually because they are mindlessly scrolling through pictures of essentially nothing or memes.

[@rainbowkrampus]

@@michaelfried3123 Sorry man, you're down here in the comments with the rest of us addicts. Most people who watch this video will never come down here. The fact that you're here at all is proof positive that you are using the site as a social media venue. Use of social media is not a problem in and of itself. Carving out special exemptions for the social media site you like so that it's not tainted by the label isn't really achieving anything except possibly deluding yourself. YT is social media. Embrace it. Recognize that it can result in problem behavior as much as any other social media site.

[@2ndfloorsongs]

​​@@rainbowkrampus I agree, I think the main differentiator is how much a person uses the comments section. (Methinks one could possibly fit "protesting too much" in somewhere, but life's too short.)

[@ShinjiGetsGrounded]

@@2ndfloorsongs i only leave unhelpful or troll comments. i didnt watch the video.

[@glauconariston9606]

The mention of self attribution bias is fantastic, it's a shame that concept isn't more widely known. I enjoyed the callouts of influencer con artists.

[@Mark-ur2il]

Love your levity and humorous delivery of complicated issues - hilarious!

[@crystaleidson6042]

I'd figured out some years back that I need to take regular, extended breaks from social media, because I have poor impulse control in that area. It comforts me greatly to know the cause and effect relationship might be different than I'd been led to believe. In other words, my brain's inefficiency at producing dopamine makes social media use hit me harder than average, instead of the other way around. And yes, the reason I keep going back is because of networking. There are many people I know and care about, who I don't have many other ways of keeping in touch with. So it's kind of a tightrope between protecting my brain and protecting my friendships.

[@BobrLovr]

Certain brains dont "make less dopamine" there is evidence to the contrary - that all brains make the same amount of dopamine. Some just have more transmitters and require more dopamine to satiate

[@albirtarsha5370]

Man, I did that in the 80s to get through university. I lived without tv for 13 years in a time before the web and modern video gaming. I did this because it was super productive.

[@nalathekitten3594]

Good morning Sabine! I love your videos 🎉🎉 i always look forward to your updates thankyou

[@Thomas-gk42]

Just finished your new book, Sabine, couldn't stop reading till the end. Great literature for a mathematical illiterate. Inspiring and gobbledygookless hopeful after loosing my parents recently. Also glad to hear, that you're wellbeing with your family. Trust and rely on each other perhaps is a FithForce, aphysically speaking. Recommending this and waiting for your next project, thank you again for sharing your knowledge, ideas and brave message, and thanks to your husband for sharing you.

[@elmariachi5133]

As Asperger with symptoms that prevent any constructive participation in social life but also life in general, the desease ruined my life it's all time Dopamine fasting forever. Everything good and fun that should be in a human's life is missing. Knowing that you have some very distinct abillities which you never will be able to make use of increases the suffering by a magnitude. Only way to live under these circumstances is permanent concentration on seeing the good that one has instead of thinking about the good that one should have had.

[@emilysha418]

I'm sorry you are struggling with this. What about Asperger's prevents you from utilizing your gifts?

[@elmariachi5133]

@@emilysha418 The biggest issue is communication. It's often hard to impossible to explain people what you mean, when you are taking each and every word literally instead of that strange way of interpretation that nearly all humans seem to be doing. For example it's like using the word 'nice' in it's literal meaning, thinking you would describe your opinion of something correctly, while possibly it's an era where people tend to use the word more sarcastic than literally because of cultural trends, which will make them think you where being sarcastic or even insulting all the time. Also there's the issue of the negative first impression people getting from you, when you generally express yourself sounding like a dictionary or a tax declaration, because they feel like you where stuck-up and arrogant. I acively worked on my language for decades, for making it sound more 'natural' for most people, which still is hard work needing a lot of attention all the time, and often resulting in experiments going wrong. Sometimes, in less reserved environments, like sport clubs, this even lead to aggressive behaviour from others towards me. There even are plenty of subcultures where people become aggressive, just by you standing there not saying a thing. so this is no good alternative, either 'way out'. They *demand* you to actively participate in (from my perspective) trivial discussions like small talk. Otherwise you are suspicious to them, while for me, speech is a tool for transferring information, and not a thing to do for fun. These issues lead to me being in fear from any situation where I might have to communicate with people more and more, which made me avoid - avoiding anything, from important social events through important doctor visits to important professional events - which in the long has very negative impact on the journey through life, as you probably can see, when imagining that all of these events (and of course a lot of others) in your lilfe would have just been avoided by you, even when they where very necessary.This ist just the tip of the iceberg, and there are countless derived and related issues, like for example being unable to speak good of yourself (by this I do not mean negative, btw., but more like very unusually 'neutral' in situations where 99% of humans tend to only present their best, which in relation of course makes you look terrible), as because of derived reasons you are seeing yourself as a robot and not as a human. Just think of these in a job interview .. or not being able to get an medical certificate when missing your exams because of an accident. Or being accused of hit-and-run, after you stood in front of the police station but wheren't able to press the door bell, because you where too afraid having to talk to someone (after an accident that did not happen btw,. but still you where fined guilty for, because, you got it: You where not able to consult a lawyer or defend yourself, which then lead to you losing your driver's license and thus losing your job..)

[@emilysha418]

@@elmariachi5133 That makes a lot of sense. I am sorry, that sounds really hard. I'm curious because I am also neurospicy, but ADHD. Autism runs in my family, Psych is a special interest and I even worked for an Autism and ADHD focused neurofeedback company for a spell. It always makes me sad to hear when people say their life is ruined, because ruined sounds...so permanent. It sounds like you experienced a lot of lower t trauma, and probably some capital T trauma as well. At least from this brief comment section encounter, I am hearing that anxiety is actually more of a challenge at present than the social cue issues from Aspergers. Maybe you can find some help with that? Has anything helped in the past? I don't know what works for you, but I've personally been digging the channel Therapy in a Nutshell. This is despite having been in therapy for many years and have a psych degree. There is always more to learn as approaches change and improve, and my brain groks her delivery style and I find her rather reassuring. m.youtube.com/@TherapyinaNutshell. Also, we can't always express our gifts in conventional ways when we ourselves are not conventional. Maybe you could find a creative way to breathe some life into your talents? Personally, I had to step away from my dream job due to health issues so I got a new therapist to focus on figuring our what a good enough life looks like after 7 years of work to "make it" that just didn't pan out. Also, not sure where your interests lie, but I have worked with a variety of brilliant people with Autism in a number of fields. Not having great social skills and being somewhat pedantic is so common in engineering for example, that there is an entire professional class of very extraverted people that act as the buffer between organizations. I was new to the space so I started taking voice lessons so I have better match between the way I sound and the way I want to come across. My communication tends to be very direct, as is my voice, so I wanted to learn to modulate that. Just wanted to share that you're not alone. -internet weirdo

[@OfficialGOD]

So many kids are being conditioned with phone, it'll be harder for their minds to give up phone

[@CAThompson]

Before that it was television.

[@OfficialGOD]

@@CAThompson Yeah, there has always been something, but even a TV is more limited than a phone

[@MoistChickenLegs]

Great video, I wouldn't ever say people actually get addiction to dopamine, I've never believed kids actually get addicted to video games. I think when you see people present like this it's because they are compulsively running away from something. Rather than this being addiction, it's more interesting to look at it as a damaging coping mechanism that influences your ability to function neurologically. Crippling the reward system with relation to building and maintaining habits. But if you maintain good habits on a daily basis and use surplus dopamine activities as a reward, I can't really seeing quantity ever being an issue, dopamine is supposed to be good and feel good. It's not really addiction. Take for example the average person now, that needs to have earphones on to enjoy going for a refreshing walk, they are not addicted just because they can't enjoy the walk without it, but have become reliant on it making their walk pleasant for them when there are plenty of ways to do this normally. I think the way monk mode is framed is generally dishonest, and the science of it really stems down to behavioural deficiencies. There are tons of things that SHOULD just feel good to do for yourself, but most people get so lost in making the day to day more bearable that they desensitize themselves to the original activities. Edit: I have ADHD, so that is why I reframe dopamine addiction to be more of a behavioural deficiency. This framework shows you how to empower your dopamine receptors, and bring habit back into your life without remaining medication dependant forever.

[@UlyssesWachowski-vw5vi]

Hey buddy that’s me you’re talking about and I only wear headphones on walks because of my tinnitus! 😉

[@geddon436]

I used to believe the same, that video game addiction isn't a disorder, but, then I realized it is. I'm a 20 year video game addict. Go to bed at midnight, be at work for 5am, repeat five days a week. There was nothing wrong with my actions, I would tell myself. When I finally saw a therapist, then I realized I was addicted. I believe you are correct about, the addiction is a coping mechanism. Dysfunctional family, self-worth issues that were never addresed, chronic heatlh problems.

[@MoistChickenLegs]

@@geddon436 Yeah I have dealt with this for a long time too, the thing for me that helped was forcing myself to push gaming to the end of the day, after I've done all my self care and errands. It's a pretty slow process to get to that though, and you can't really just quit. I only meant to say that for many, it is not an addiction yet, and if people could identify the things that lead to it sooner, it wouldn't have to become one. It's just strange for me, because it never had to be video games, I had tons of other dopamine sources that did the trick too.

[@earlgrey2130]

Gaming addiction is on official diagnosis by now in the ICD-10. Its real. Whatever you don't "believe" doesnt matter when psychiatry all over the globe has patients with that diagnose requiring therapy. Its true tough that its not simply an addiction to dopamine (that is a ludicrous oversimplification). But dopamine plays an important role in addiction.

[@sinew1000]

Yeah dopamine addiction is not real for the average person. It is real though

[@tathagatasinha2939]

All I had to do to to overcome my Facebook addiction was to wake up one day and uninstall Facebook. (and just think of something else whenever I detected thoughts about Facebook in my mind and after a week I detected no new thoughts about FB at all)

[@youtubesuresuckscock]

Who installs or uninstalls websites? :tryingnot2laugh:

[@Rattus-Norvegicus]

@@youtubesuresuckscock Facebook is also a phone app...

[@traumflug]

To my self-observation it largely depends on how one uses social media. For example, Twitter has a "For You" timeline and a "Following" timeline. The former is more like Facebook, the latter shows tweets from followed accounts, only. The former stirs me up a lot, because I can never make reading tweets "complete", like "all tweets read", because there are always additional ones. I like to finish things, finding an end. The "Following" timeline allows this. Same for those lamenting about trolls on this medium. Simply don't follow them and you'll rarely see what they write.

[@UlyssesWachowski-vw5vi]

That’s cognitive behavioral therapy (basically) and it sounds like you did a good job!

[@Mark-xw5yt]

This is what I've been able to do with tiktok and instagram. But KZbin is just unshakable for me.

[@erickr199]

The frustrating thing about social media is that is engineered to make you as addicted as possible. They litterally hire people or use AI to know how to maximize the amount of hours one wastes on this sites.

[@jekyl-gaming]

addiction = repeat behavior despite negative consequences

[@SlakjeJasper]

It's more like the complete powerlessness to quit even though it's obliterating your life

[@miamivicemastermixer]

Addiction is not a choice, it's a disease

[@jekyl-gaming]

@@miamivicemastermixer The previous definition is rooted in psychology, whereas your definition is rooted in medicine

[@elinope4745]

So I'm addicted to paying rent?

[@jekyl-gaming]

@@elinope4745 Depends on the consequences of stopping to pay rent

[@macsnafu]

I'm one of those KZbin bingers. I start watching KZbin videos, and I don't want to quit. I keep looking for more videos that might be interesting, or even just half-way interesting. I watched this video because social media has become such a big thing in society, so I thought this might provide some worthwhile insights into social media and our use of it. And Sabine came through with what science actually says or doesn't say about social media. Addiction isn't in the DSM? Well then, it must all be in our minds! ;-)

[@yes12337]

Imo not only social media, but internet in general is addictive and web developers are even using psychology-backed tricks (like information feed that can be scrolled without end) to make it even more addictive. If it wasn't then people wouldn't choose it over things the should do instead or put their health at risk by sitting to much. If this is not addiction, then what really is

[@hisham_hm]

Yeah, "is it on DSM or not" is such a weak take when it comes to mental health.

[@Thobeian]

Substance abuse is functionally a synonym, but it specifically references addictions that are life ruining and profoundly harm your mental health. Some people who get addicted to social media and engage constantly don’t necessarily crave any physical pleasure from the act, but rather emotional validation for pre-existing problems they are dealing with. Not everything we do causes a distinct chemical or nervous trigger, we sometimes just do things because they satisfy emotional needs, or stimulate deeper thinking, or distract our brains from other unavoidable issues in our daily life that trigger discomfort . It’s not all lizard-brain knee jerk reactions to pleasure. Simply put, It’s much more satisfying emotionally to rant about all your problems in a vacuum and just post it for the world to see than say, have a face-to-face discussion, debate, or argument with someone about those problems. They may push back, or ask questions you’ve answered 1000 times, or at the worst, be mad or judge you for complaining about something they don’t see as a problem. Social media caters to people who, whether rightly or otherwise, feel that their voice isn’t heard and their feelings aren’t validated. So in that way, it’s a perfect magnet for people with undiagnosed and untreated mental disorders! Social media addiction is definitely a phenomenon, but to treat it on par with dependency or drug abuse is not the way to combat it. If anything, having to use another term for drug addictions says more about people not understanding what an addiction is clinically vs. a normal bad habit: You can change bad habits; you fight an addiction tooth-and-nail. The most dangerous and addictive drugs (tobacco, alcohol, opioids, cocaine, amphetamines) have physical withdrawal symptoms that need medical help depending on how long it’s been affecting a person. Social media “withdrawal” makes you feel FOMO for two or three days.

[@macsnafu]

@@Thobeian I hold that there is a difference between physical and psychological addictions.

[@mars_ffs]

​@@hisham_hm yeah true, but sometimes u gotta use it to combat stupid ass takes like "adhd isn't real, ur just lazy"

[@bjs301]

Excellent video. When DSM-5 was released I spoke to a highly respected addiction medicine specialist who was furious to see mental health disorders linked to addictive (substance use) disorders. He told me that the role of dopamine in addiction to drugs is different than it's role in OCD, gambling "addiction" and so forth. Now his comment makes more sense.

[@exandra.]

The more time I spend discussing various mental health issues, through personality disorders, addiction, or gender stuff, the more I realize how flawed the DSM/ICD systems are when it comes to mental health. A lot of the diagnostic criteria are made by people who are "specialists" in given fields, while not having real empathy and understanding for the subject. As an example, I recently watched a video on the diagnostic criteria for Gender Identity Discorder (e.g. Gender Dysphoria) and learned that they were made by a panel of 12 people, if I recall correctly, based on a meta-meta-analysis of various diagnosis proceses. This feels wrong to me - shouldn't one, when preparing a literal guidebook for all mental health proffesionals to use, go through more effort than just a single meta-analysis? Should there be interviews to get perspectives on the issue at hand (both with patients and with their psychologists/psychiatrists/etc.)? Shouldn't there be some qualitative work done to see whether the data in these quantitative reports is actually from... therapies that work? Also, as a fun fact, one of these researchers who composed these diagnostic criteria would become infamous for how unscientific and oversexualized his research on trans pepole was (Ray Blanchard - in short, dude basically claimed that people are trans because they want to fuck themselves???). If this is the case, what else has been compiled with utter carelessness? By people with objectively incorrect views of the topics at hand? How many of these guidlines are at best somewhat misguided and at worst harmful? There currently is an issue of Borderline Personality Disorder being kind of over-diagnosed. The diagnostic conditions for Schizophrenia have been split up into *eight* different illnesses - is this the correct way to go? Maybe the whole diagnosis of schizophrenia should be reexamined and modernized instead (bringing this up because I've heard a schizophrenic person argue such)? Other disorders, like ADHD, are very weirdly named. As a person who most likely has ADHD (will get diagnosed soon), it's wild to me how badly "Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder" descrbies it - it doesn't give you a "deficit" of attention, it makes it incredibly difficult to manage. You can be unable to focus on one thing, while also spending and entire day *hyper*focusing (e.g., focusing to such an extent that everything besides the task at hand becomes irrelevant) on a whole different thing. The name itself causes misconceptions about what ADHD actually is.

[@VernonStradling]

@@exandra. DSM is a disaster. It's basically a bunch of American psychiatrists trying to medicalise behaviour in the normal range.

[@bjs301]

@@exandra. That's a lot of words to say you don't like something. There is really little science behind most psychology or psychiatry. I regulated health professionals for 44 years, and worked cases on hundreds of "mentally ill" and drug addicted professionals. I also reviewed records of thousands of patients. The only certainties are first, that patients will get different mental health diagnoses from different providers over time, regardless of whether their presentation changes; and second, that mental health professionals can rarely predict relapse or recidivistic behavior with any certainty. A third certainty until recently was that psychiatrists and psychologists were all grossly incompetent at treating chemical addictions. Today that is only true about 95% of the time.

[@Llortnerof]

@@exandra. If nothing else, they should at the very least check if the criteria actually work on known cases. I.e. basic "sanity" check.

[@exandra.]

@@bjs301 Yeah, true, about the quantity of words here. I guess this was something of a vent, as I know many people, myself included, who were just kinda hurt by receiving improper mental health care. And thanks for the additional points, sad shit...

[@markmarco2880]

Self reflection is good. I suppose it can be overdone. Thanks, my dear Sabine-I’m just happy to have you.❤

[@bassben004]

This makes me think of John Kellogg and his desire to make cereal as unpleasant as possible because he believed enjoying things was bad

[@moxiousch]

We can become desensitized to nearly anything. Humans are incredibly adaptable in that we'll normalize almost all aspects of our own lives and that can be a bit jarring when you step back and look at it. 'Going monk' or dopamine fasting is, I think, a really useful way to step outside your routine and get a new perspective. Also, we DO become used to certain stimuli and there's a lot of anecdotal evidence (ie people talk) about starting the day off with low stimulation, enabling you to focus on your priorities instead of falling into the anticipation/dopamine cycle of pleasure-seeking behaviours. When you start the behaviour, it's hard to stop and step away from the high stimulation thing. It's especially difficult for ADHD folks who suffer from low dopamine anyway, so the allure of very fast and repeating stimuli is pretty hard to ignore. The packaging, overblown expectations and misinformation about dopamine is worrying, but the trend of re-examining your habits and norms is a good thing in my opinion.

[@davidwuhrer6704]

_> The packaging, overblown expectation, and misinformation about dopamine is worrying._ Indeed. And unfortunately your post is no exception to that. You make a good point about adaptability, but then seem to ignore the part where the lab mice with no dopamine were unable to adapt.

[@AnoNymous-dh2sv]

mild ADHD is common, but obviously that is a condition massively enlarged by internet memery. I'm pretty sure in the 1980s and back ADHD would not be easily diagnosed since it was much easier to not trigger it.

[@crystalding5589]

​@@davidwuhrer6704 I read over the comment youre commenting on and dont a "no dopamine" state is in scope here?

[@DavidBerger-g2h]

Reminds of the Spongebob Episode where Squidward was in the Perfekt Neighborhood and it made him desensitive

[@TorianTammas]

@moxiousch - People procrastinate are not properly organized and choose something else to do.

[@MargaretHarmer]

The interesting part is not when you take the « drug » but when you stop taking the « drug » and see what happens.

[@hemanthharrilall6469]

Excellent video, very balanced view. Thanks for the clarity on social media healers and science based evidence

[@tianikane3312]

Thank you Sabine. I have always wondered why I am rapt in the process of getting to a goal and then lose interest once I get to the goal. Your explanation regarding dopamine and what it does has cleared this up for me. I have always thought I was somewhat weird in this loss of interest and people downed me for it, saying I should be 'proud' etc. that I have done such and such. I am creative but lose interest in the creation once it has been made, so much of it has been given away. It is the process that gives me the buzz, not the result

[@gregbailey45]

This works will with charitable endeavours. Get stuff done, move on...

[@rahullak]

This was informative and balanced about things that aren't conclusive. Too much of a thing, even a good thing is almost never good. Human beings need variation: physical, mental, spiritual. The next time you feel bored even while doing something, know that it's a sign your mind is telling you to go do something else. The more different it is, the better you'll feel. SM need not be abandoned. It's a tool and like every technology the human should be in control of it.

[@JoeWithTheHoesBiden]

Just set up social media to be a productive experience for your needs, use it in moderation, and you'll be good. I know this is easier said than done, but it is far from impossible. I have done it myself quite nicely. I'm having a great time on Twitter just because I set it up for news about my favorite music artists, don't post often, use it sparingly, and mainly use it for news about astrophysics and theoretical mechanics. Even if the articles they cite are fake, I fact-check them and usually learn something brand new that I'm infatuated with!

[@abj136]

This is all true, and social media isn’t technically addiction but it can be addictive in that you can get too attached to seeking thumbs ups or just one more good tiktok, because they give you the quick but intermitent positive feedback loop that is geared to entice you. It is necessary to have a self-defined way of operating that doesn’t allow you to be hooked. It’s not that you can’t quit, it’s that the way it operates saps some amount of your motivation to do otherwise.

[@earlgrey2130]

​@@abj136 but it IS. There are diagnostic criteria and codes for it. She just didn't find them (which is understandable as a LOT of research is done in that area right now)

[@qwertyisagpassword]

No way Sabine was the german mud wizard all along

[@dangerousman4071]

please do not ever stop making these videos, you are the savior to todays generation of junk science inferences. people read one line, take it out of context, make it the next hype and everyone believes them, its so stupid.

[@JohnCena8351]

Being a "monk mode" KZbinr sounds like a genius move. You can make a lot of views because of this trend AND you always have an excuse to be lazy and not upload as many videos as other creators....because you've been in monk mode. Some may say this sounds very materialistic and goes against the whole philosophy itself......to those people I can only respond: I don't have time to answer, I'm in monk mode so hard rn.

[@elosant2061]

That wouldn't work in practice because the youtube algorithm penalizes inconsistent uploads.

[@JohnCena8351]

​​@@elosant2061 That Iman Guy makes a decent amount of views for someone who's only uploaded once a week max. It's that damn trend.

[@tnijoo5109]

I’m waiting for hermit mode to become a thing. That will really be my time to shine.

[@kkgt6591]

How is that your DP is blank?

[@Iudicatio]

I struggle with compulsive internet use. Sometimes I think that not using it at all anymore is the only way, just like how a recovering alcoholic can't have one drink, even though one drink isn't very dangerous for most people. But as the NFT guy proves, stopping it is completely meaningless unless you have something important to do and not just scam people with NFTs. Buying NFTs is peak "terminally online behavior" when it comes down to it.

[@indulgencerofindulgence5970]

That is because you have an unhealthy attitude. Being only mean you reading, watching, commenting, playing, hearing...etc. You shouldn't see being as a monolith action. Reducing a very wide series of a actions to just being online lead to negativity.

[@Iudicatio]

@Indulgencer Of Indulgence Yeah IDK, even though other activities like reading, walking through the nature near my house, and spending time with friends IRL doesn't necessarily always feel "productive", they don't feel bad and like a waste in the same way. I know there is some helpful stuff online that will make me happy but the problem is I never end up watching it. I end up watching whatever trash the KZbin algorithm knows I can't take my eyes off of, even if I know I don't actually want to watch it. If the algorithm was less predatory and I could customize it more to only see certain things, then it might be a different story.

[@_shadow_1]

Usually when people report things like an addiction to social media, I don't think that the social media addiction is the problem. There's almost always an underlying condition, such as OCD, ADHD, anxiety, depression ect. The addition is only how it manifests because it is designed just like gambling to take advantage of those vulnerable individuals with a predisposition towards addicting behavior.

[@Google_Censored_Commenter]

That's a bit silly framing, isn't it? Could I not make exactly the same case for alcohol addiction? I bet you there's an underlying condition behind 90% of alcoholics as well. Be it genetic disposition, childhood trauma, some other mental disorder, who knows. But to say the alcohol itself isn't part of the problem for the alcoholic, would be absurd. Of course it is. There can be more than 1 problem for a person. Same applies to social media. You cannot tell me someone who's on social media 12 hours a day, doesn't have a social media problem, or that we can't talk about what it is about social media that causes the behaviour. Don't be ridiculous. If there was literally nothing special about social media, you would see people addicted to golf, or drinking water, or listening to music, or any other activity in equal measure, but we don't. If you took social media away from them, would they obsessively find something else to do for 12 hours a day? Likely not, even if they do have OCD. So you cannot escape the conclusion that social media has addictive properties.

[@_shadow_1]

@@Google_Censored_Commenter It definitely does, that's not what I was getting at. What I was saying that people with preexisting conditions like those are much more prone to addition, social media included, social media can probably also increase the severity or impact those conditions have on those people. Likewise treating such conditions might also have a beneficial effect on the addiction by reducing psychological dependence on it. Use time also doesn't necessarily indicate an addiction. What is more important is a person's lack of ability to control their impulse to start or to stop and how much it effects their life (when off said device). If I got nothing better to do, than several hours watching KZbin might be just me passing time. It's definitely not a very productive use of my free time, but it's my free time so I doesn't and shouldn't have to be. It would be an issue is if it becomes an obsession and I can't put down the phone even if I wanted to and else nothing matters but getting on my phone again after work and I neglect major things in my life because of it.

[@UlyssesWachowski-vw5vi]

I agree with both of y’all.

[@Mark-xw5yt]

Man I want help but I'm too lazy to figure out how getting a therapist would work.

[@SouravDas-vi1jh]

I love her sense of humor and delivery!!! ❤❤

[@festerblatz]

I love you Sabine. You are on the apex of theoretical physics and not just another boring female science educator that just parrots what Ed Witten and quantum gravity people say. I accutally feel that I learn something everytime I hear you speak. You are also a great debater that just don't giggle away serious issues, instead you address the questions and own your opponents in a well-mannered. People like you make both man and women interested in a career in science. Thank you for everything. No one talked like you when I went to school, so I'm stuck with a minimum wage job, but my goal is to be able to be able to join as soon as I have the means to do so. Now all money goes to taking care of my son and with the gas prices in Sweden I can almost not afford to bring my son to his different activities.

[@barendnaude4950]

Honestly, my biggest problem with "social media" is that it is actually ANTI-social, and it produces anti-social kids. Just look at kids nowadays, most of them are always sitting around staring down to cell-phone screens. At a young age we were outside running around and playing with other kids. A little older, we were going out, and so on... You know, activities that actually helps with the formation of actual SOCIAL bonds. I'd wager if you do that "pointing to nothing in the sky" experiment (Stanley Milgram) today, nobody would even notice. In case it isn't clear, I truly despise (anti-)social media. Love your videos Sabine.

[@HighStakesDanny]

Brilliant- let’s all put anti in front of social media and when you say it put the anti in front too

[@SpaceBearEngineer]

I'm forever skeptical of neophobia. Humans as late as the Roman Republic were complaining (ironically, in writing, that's how this entered the historical record) that writing was "destroying human memory" . Fast forward a couple thousand years and the average kindergartener knows an order of magnitude more about the world and the universe than every philosopher of the Roman Republic combined. TV would "destroy literacy" yet a century later we live in the most literate time in human history. Every new technology will "destroy" our species yet we continue to remain undestroyed, and even worse for those doomsayers our lives continue to be almost immeasurably more comfortable than those who came before us. A broken clock might be right twice a day but a broken ideology can be wrong forever.

[@barendnaude4950]

@@HighStakesDanny Fluffy bunnies aren't always white.

[@barendnaude4950]

@@SpaceBearEngineer You can bring a horse to water . . .

[@HighStakesDanny]

​@@barendnaude4950Cool. You are correct.

[@imacds]

I think the problems many people experience regarding social media have more to do with those social media interactions replacing one-on-one interpersonal interactions and the fact that the social media interactions are too non-personal to make for a sufficient replacement.

[@susanthejew6351]

I think people value their ego's to much is the underlining problem we have had for years since we all worship freuds words like he was a genius while in fact he was a narcissist

[@guidosarducci209]

I've been enjoying your videos, but this one really stands out as demonstrating your understanding and respect for science. I'm talking about your comment about correlation versus causation. The mistake you caution against may be the worst error in applied science, and especially medical science. And it drives me crazy more people don't recognize it. Now I'm going to be listening more carefully to what you have to say. Thank you for bringing this issue up.

[@joesterling4299]

I've long thought that true addictions have to be physical. So-called psychological addictions are really obsessions. You may not be able to stop them on your own, but you won't turn into a pile of sweat and urine if can't get them even for extended periods. You will adapt without medical help. I'm glad to see the distinction drawn clearly. Thank you. Very informative as usual.

[@2ndfloorsongs]

Since the brain is physical, all addictions are as well.

[@nodisalsi]

Agreed: this subtle distinction is what is lost in the glut of commercial advertising. They Need you to feel inadequate by yourself, so they can sell you the Need for their remedy. And I'm not talking pharmaceuticals here, it's also diversions like political and religous cults, gambling, and… er… social media engagement.

[@Google_Censored_Commenter]

Well it isn't so simple that any disorder has to be physical, because it's well-established that mere thoughts has real, measurable, physiological effects, the placebo and nocebo effects being the most widely known. Tell me, is there any substance abuse where your life will be threatened from quitting the addiction cold turkey, without medical assistance? I don't know of any. Seems to me the distinction between substance abuse and OCD's consequences in regards to the addictive portion alone, isn't really there. Whatever sideffects withdrawal symptoms have, they exist equally in both substance abuse and OCD cases. I bet if you took a substance abuser of any substance, and an OCD patient of equal addiction level (if that can be measured), you would find identical withdrawal symptoms.

[@twoiko]

@@Google_Censored_Commenter Withdrawal from physiological addiction can and does lead to permanent damage, including death, from simply going cold turkey, eg. Benzodiazepines.

[@cristianemanuelherlein6462]

@@Google_Censored_Commenter Kitting alcohol can kill you. It's called delirium tremens.

[@dennistucker1153]

Very good video. Thank you Sabine. :)

[@geisaune793]

I'm one of those people who has long been suspicious of the role of social media in the increase in mental health problems in young people, but I really like this video. I'm always more likely to listen to nuanced, reasonable explanations than some influencer who says "you need to do this and this and this to fix your life right now." I believe I do have a problem with my internet use, but I think that problem is mostly porn related. I really think the way I've been using porn over the last 10 years or so has seriously negatively affected my life. I've been trying to quit for over 3 years but I've never made it more than 2 weeks without watching because the longer I go without watching it, the more I can't stop thinking about it.

[@BobrLovr]

There is exactly 0 scientific evidence that porn has negative mental health effects

[@geisaune793]

@@peptopls I finally made it to 3 weeks recently. The difference in "how my life is going" even at just day 21 is huge. I can't imagine what it's like at 2, 3, 4+ months. My mantra recently is "The less porn I watch, the better my life gets. The more porn I watch, the worse my life gets."

[@Thoughtful_Balance]

Pursuit of all knowledge is required for what comes ahead. Thank you for trying for myself and for others.

[@EJBert]

I really want to go monk mode and start my own Church of the Latter Day Sinners, as to Mindfulness not so much! The old "Infrequent rewards leads to the greatest habituation" has been around since B.F. Skinner in the 1950's. Everything gets recycled nowadays including ideas. Love Sabine's comment about 'projecting your own problems on me'!

[@CAThompson]

Sinners - Pay attention, be in the moment, enjoy your indulgence fully!

[@Merc399]

Dopamine and dopamine tolerance is one of the leading factors in drug addiction. The title of this video could use some acknowledgement of the complicated relationship our neurotransmitters have to our psychological reward system

[@tobiaszb]

Thx for summarizing the info from neuroscience and current psychology. Why haven't you included the stories of designing social media to have those gambling mechanisms in it together with AI driven habit learning?

[@aletabarker]

The humour was particularly good today 😂. Also liked the “monk” ensemble. It’s good when I can watch an episode of your show and understand it! ❤

[@classica1fungus]

This is a really interesting take on the whole anti social media thing going on, very level headed and science based. Well done

[@alanitaaaaa]

Idk girl all I know is I don’t feel good and it’s definitely that damn phone

[@shutup-gc2yk]

Well, I quit social media 3 years ago, and I'm actually pretty happy about living under a rock 😂 people are just excessively connected and exposed these days, and I assure you, I value and like people more when I don't see their faces plastered all over my screen every single day.

[@rudra62]

You're watching and commenting on KZbin, so you haven't completely quit social media. You may have stopped some, and are limiting others. Otherwise, I agree with most of what you're saying, although I never got into the very popular things usually associated with "Social Media".

[@shutup-gc2yk]

@@rudra62 I don't consider KZbin social media because I'm not having open interactions with anyone. I'm consuming video content and commenting on it, but I'm not establishing any sort of social ties with anyone.

[@rudra62]

@@shutup-gc2yk Well, I'm having an open social interaction with you, right now anyway. We won't be sharing all of the goings-on in our lives, including things that I consider private.

[@sumofat4994]

@@rudra62 You tube is the shitty toxic version of TV

[@archanamitra425]

​@@rudra62 KZbin is more of a video sharing platform than its a social media.

[@annelogston]

Social media has been a blessing, and I don’t say that lightly. I am on the autism spectrum and an enormous introvert. Before the internet (yes, I was alive then) I simply avoided human contact altogether whenever possible. Now no matter how overwhelmed I’m feeling, I can interact with other people on a level that’s comfortable for me. I’ve learned so much and have exchanged ideas with people literally half a world away. Anything, even water or oxygen, can be abused. Each of us has to gauge our needs, risks and benefits and adjust accordingly. I think it’s probably overly simplistic to “prescribe” these deliberate happiness cutbacks for what might be serious underlying mental health problems. Actually, never mind. You said it better!

[@johnharvey5412]

Idk about dopamine fasting per se, but game companies and social media companies hire psychologists to find ways to -- shall we say -- *encourage* users to engage in a compulsive way much like a slot machine or Skinner box, so I can't help but imagine that escaping from that is a good thing. How many times have you found yourself staring idly for hours at a screen only to realize that you gained nothing and didn't even really enjoy it? 🤷

[@beowulf2772]

Yeah it's a behavioural thing not an addiction then. It is really bad for those with low dopamine already like people with ADHD tho.

[@mmitcch]

9:35 people with adhd have this deficiency and are known to be vulnerable to addiction/substance abuse because of it. Also it seems here you make the conclusion that only people with low dopamine have this problem. They are more likely to get addicted but we all know that everyone can. I don’t have to eat my phone to get a easy dopamine release from it but it does release while I watch videos or play games what also happens when you take drugs/certain medicine. I like the research you showed here, I just don’t agree with your conclusions.

[@Aquamayne100]

Sabine's monk robe 🤣

[@classica1fungus]

She's adorable