The Neuroscience of Change: The Role of Dopamine in Obstructing or Obtaining What We Want In Life With Dr Anastasia Hronis

Dr Anastasia Hronis is a clinical psychologist and founder of the Australian Institute for Human Wellness. She is a practicing clinician, as well as a researcher and lecturer at the University of Technology Sydney. She has published in a number of prestigious academic journals, appears regularly on TV discussing all manner of topics related to mental health and wellbeing, and has also performed at some of the world’s greatest music venues as a concert pianist. If that’s not enough, she’s also the author of The Dopamine Brain which I found an utterly compelling and valuable read.

With the growth in interest and understanding of how our brains work and the neurology that lays down the wires that inform and influence every one of our choices, behaviours and actions, dopamine has gone from being an abstract topic discussed in universities and health clinics, to a hot topic across social media, the news and in our culture. Seemingly all of a sudden everyone is an expert in dopamine, or neurotransmitters or how our brains operate and drive our lives. The Dopamine Brain myth busts, defines, explains and brings to life the incredible ways by which our brains work.

Anastasia and I chat about this but also the role dopamine plays in both resisting and enabling what we do, which is relevant as we enter the second week of January and those resolutions or goals for 2025 become increasingly difficult to stay on track with. There’s good science as to why that is - beyond the myth that this is all about willpower and unlimited levels of personal responsibility. Our neurology can dictate and open or shut opportunities to change, and Anastasia’s book plus this chat reinforced that change is difficult for two fundamental reasons that are beyond the power of my will - changing my neurology involves a period of painful withdrawal where slipping and returning to pattern is a more convenient option despite the irrationality, while creating new pathways and resetting dopamine levels is physically uncomfortable and about re-organising the neurology in my brain. It helped me have compassion for myself as I look to make shifts and some transitions this year, why these have been so difficult in the past and also helps me hold onto optimism that the difficulty of these periods do eventually erode, and that light is shining at the end of the tunnel.

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