Now, what does addiction have to do with discipline? Well it’s really a science. With addiction, one triggers dopamine release. In fact, they trigger so many dopamine releases that their brain’s receptors are not able to function orderly. Thus, there is an imbalance. So when one is addicted to things that overproduce dopamine, urging them to find more and more forms of satisfaction to recreate that feeling (porn, alcohol, certain foods, drugs, video games, etc…), the natural things that are suppose to leave them satisfied through normal dopamine release, well.. just aren’t so satisfying any longer.
Things of discipline such as working out, achieving goals, human interaction, and hard work, these things create dopamine release as well. They are mean’t to be enjoyed. However, to one who has the dopamine state of addiction, such things are a mere chore and a bore. Therefore, I put it to you to break those addictions. If you have become addicted to food, let it master you no longer. IF video games are giving you an over production of dopamine, break the habit, for it will only take your joy away from doing things that need to be done. If diet soda is an addiction, get it out of your life. If porn and other sinful things are an addiction, and you are noticing that you are in need of more and more, rid yourself of it! If you do so, you will find that you are more disciplined and actually ENJOY hard work. Moreover, seeking God and growing in his word will become a great source of pleasure.
• When your dopamine releases are all warring against each other because of addiction, you don’t find pleasure the way you should in natural and beneficial things. It’s an actual physiological change. The good news is that you can reverse the negative effects by: 1) stopping the behavior and 2) building new, POSITIVE habits that are natural, which will give you the dopamine release that God intended.
Rewiring your mind for natural pleasures:
God designed the brain to release dopamine in your body which gives you a feeling of pleasure or a "high" or a sense of euphoria when you engage in certain things. There are some NATURAL forms of pleasure that God created within us that should give us this "high" :
1)The success of work and self-improvement, building new things.
2)Relations with one's spouse
3)The feeling one gets after a good workout
4)Seeking God through worship and study of his word and prayer.
Now days many of these natural forms of high have become corrupted, because many of us have desensitized our minds to the point of not being able to appreciate the natural release of dopamine. We have allowed our minds to become addicted to "foreign forms of pleasure". Unfortunately, these foreign forms of pleasure have corrupted our ability to enjoy the natural things that we should derive pleasure from in life.
For instance, when one has over-indulged themselves in video- games and forms of entertainment to the point that they are always getting a high and an over-release of dopamine, studies have shown that like the effects of a drug, these individuals just don't appreciate everyday life as much. How? and Why? Well they have desensitized their mind to the feeling it should receive through natural means of pleasure such as the feeling of success at work. Therefore, when the entertainment addict has trained their mind to get the "high" from their entertainment source, they will likely not become AS enthusiastic in regards to work and creativity. For the natural things will not give them that novel sense of "high" that they have been engaging in.
When someone spends their time on pornography, masturbation, prostitutes, and things that give them a "high" outside of their spouse, they will find that their natural sense of pleasure with their spouse will not be as great as someone who has not indulged their minds in what’s unnatural to God's way.
And remember, God created us to receive more than just information when we seek him, but also we are to receive pleasure. One should get a release of dopamine and a feeling of euphoria when they study God's word, receive revelation, and worship. However, if someone has been getting their "high" through worship of an idol, then they are corrupting their desires for what’s unnatural. One person's idol may be a celebrity, another person's idol may be a TV show, and another person's idol may be a game. It doesn't matter the idol, what matters is that they are desensitizing their minds in a way that is foreign.
Now let me be clear, its fine to enjoy entertainment. However, when a person over indulges in entertainment to the point of that entertainment is giving them an over-production of dopamine and euphoria, then that entertainment takes on the same effects and properties as a drug. At this point, entertainment has become containment! Therefore, a person who realizes that they have not been receiving as much pleasure from NATURAL means should strive to rewire their minds. Some studies mention that one can rewire the way their mind derives pleasure in a little time as one month. So work to receive pleasure through natural means by spending more time in what God has ordained us to receive pleasure from, and your mind will follow.
