Gary Brecka explains how low dopamine drives compulsive behavior and addiction. A specific gene mutation can make someone nearly unable to overcome it. Addiction doesn't end; it just moves from drugs to alcohol to work or something else.
What happens if you have a dopamine deficiency? You begin to engage in dopamine-seeking behavior. We had a saying in the mortality space. If I actually saw this gene mutation and I saw that you were in drug and alcohol treatment center, if I knew that you were unaware of that genetic mutation, I would give you in our model a zero chance of conquering that addiction. In fact, if you know anything about addiction, if you've ever been an addict or you've ever known a true addict, you know that addiction has a tendency to shift. It never really goes away. Drug addicts become alcoholics. Alcoholics become workaholics. Workaholics become workaholics. So this dopamine deficiency, which drives us to engage in dopamine-seeking behavior, is what drives addiction. We used to say that the absence of dopamine is the presence of addiction.
