BLOG No. FIFTEEN

Welcome back to my 15th blog on anxiety and depression. Today I want to begin discussing behaviors related to D2 dopamine elevation. We have discussed a lot of the symptoms of duty to dopamine elevation, such as anger—what I call 0-60, anxiety without provocation, rapid mood changes, racing thoughts, insomnia, suicidal thoughts—even if there is no plan, obsessions and compulsions, and paranoia. And remember what I said in previous blogs about all of these symptoms—not everyone has every symptom, just as diabetics don’t have every symptom of diabetes.

We are all different.

But there’re other attributs of high D2 dopamine that I would like to briefly discuss. These would be gambling, sexual promiscuity, and buying shit that you just don’t need. What chemical cornucopia is at work here? Problematic gambling, problematic sexual promiscuity, and problematic shopping all have a commonality—elevated D2 dopamine. But, understand, not every D2 patient suffers from these behaviors.

As you know, D2 dopamine excess makes the brain run faster. And when the brain runs faster, numerous things occur. I duly believe in the yin-yang course of the universe, whether it is run by a higher intelligence or by random chance. High D2 patients, from Napoleon to Nancy Pelosi (just guessing here) run the risk, as part of their neurochemistry, of obsessions and compulsions.

But what is the definition of obsessions and compulsions?

For me, it is behavior that deviates from the average person, driven by an unknown impulse to act in some way. If you’re independently wealthy and want to enjoy yourself at the crap tables, knock yourself out. If you are a horn-dog that wants to engage, occasionally, in meaningless sex—protected—call me…I mean, that can be okay. And if you need things, and you can afford them, certainly buy them.

But when these behaviors exceed common sense—i.e. gambling away the mortgage payment, there maybe issues. There have been no good studies I have seen in behaviors that involve such risks. But the majority clinicians still believe that obsessive and compulsive behavior is still a serotonin issue.

BULLSHIT!!! And of course I am using bullshit in the medical sense. Any kind of a obsession or compulsion urge comes from D2 excess. And we have learned exactly how to treat that. It’ll be interesting to see when the psychiatric community wakes the hell up, what D2 dopamine suppressing drugs might do to compulsive gamblers, people compulsed to sexual promiscuity, and compulsive shoppers—buying things they don’t need—at a pathological level.

Well, here in Cabo I have adopted a nice gato (cat), though it knows no English and does not respond to any of my commands. Sounds like all my previous cats. But I am on the beach and my Chardonnay is safe up in the fridge, so he or she cannot spill itÍ! Until next time, this is Dr. G saying, keep the faith.