Episode 419 - The Dr. Cloud Show - The Dopamine War: How Social Media Platforms Target Your Brain

The Boundaries.me Podcast

Greg Bowler

Religion & Spirituality, Henrycloud, Gaslighting, Productivity, Mentalhealth, Boundaries, Faith, Leadership, Drhenrycloud, Christiancounseling, Psychology, Health & Fitness, Mental Health, Counseling, Christianity, Narcissism, Relationships, Drcloud

4.7 • 815 Ratings

🗓️ 18 March 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Dr. Henry Cloud examines how social media platforms and advertisers deliberately target the brain's reward system. The episode explores how these entities track preferences and serve content designed to trigger dopamine releases, potentially narrowing users' experiences and creating unhealthy patterns. The discussion covers the neurochemistry of pleasure, explaining how the same brain mechanisms activated by problematic behaviors also respond to positive activities like social connection and completing small tasks. Dr. Cloud presents practical strategies for regaining control through intentional activities rather than passive consumption. The episode includes call-in segments where Dr. Cloud addresses relationship trust issues, catastrophic thinking patterns, and navigating complex family dynamics.

You deserve relationships that lift you up, not wear you down. If you're feeling exhausted by toxic people or unsure how to handle difficult behaviors, Dr. Henry Cloud is here to help. His free guide, "10 Strategies for Dealing with Toxic People," will show you how to recognize harmful behaviors like gaslighting and narcissism, how to confidently set boundaries, and how to finally take back your peace.

You're not alone—and things can get better. Download your free copy now at www.boundaries.me/free

Transcript

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0:00.0	Sick of being treated unfairly in relationships?
0:03.7	Discover key strategies from Dr. Henry Cloud on how to protect yourself from toxic people.
0:08.8	Go to www.boundaries.me slash free to get a free ebook that covers
0:14.2	What makes someone an unsafe person?
0:17.0	How to recognize and respond to gaslighting?
0:19.5	What to do with a narcissist?
0:21.4	How to say no? How to deal with people to gaslighting. What to do with a narcissist? How to say no.
0:22.8	How to deal with people that play the victim.
0:25.0	And much more.
0:26.2	Go to www.boundaries.me slash free to download the guide.
0:44.3	Hey guys. welcome back. It's the Dr. Cloud show, and that means I get to have a lot fun because I can talk to you guys. I want to talk about a concept today. There is a war that you
0:50.7	are the target of. This is not a conspiracy theory. Okay.
0:55.5	This is true.
0:59.2	They are out to get you.
1:04.6	They are the dopamine people.
1:07.9	Everybody's heard about dopamine, it's neurotransmitter.
1:08.9	It feels good.
1:13.0	When you feel good about something, that means that there was a dopamine hit that you got in your brain. And it's released when we experience something
1:19.4	that feels good. That means bad, some things that are bad for us to be doing, feel good. Everybody
1:27.4	knows that. But also good things that are bad for us to be doing feel good. Everybody knows that.
1:29.3	But also good things that we could be doing feel good.
1:33.4	Also, same chemical.
	...

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