Dopamine is a substance involved in sensations of reward. It is one of those known as happiness hormones. That there is a fair amount of this substance is crucial for human beings. Both its excess and its deficiency can cause serious damage to those who suffer from it, and therefore, its regulation is of utmost importance.
In addition to reward circuits, dopamine participates in functions of attention, motivation, memory, the feeling of pleasure and motor control, among others.
To discover what can cause an excess of dopamine, what are the symptoms of said excess, the consequences it can have and how to lower excess dopaminecontinue reading this Psychology-Online article.
It is a neurotransmitter of the central nervous system. Let’s see why dopamine can be in greater quantities than what is considered normal:
- Stress. One of the reasons why a person may have high levels of dopamine is stress, since this substance is responsible, among other functions, for preparing us to fight or flee from danger. Therefore, continued stress can cause the general levels of this substance to increase. Find out if this is your case through this.
- Drugs or medications. The use of drugs and some medications can increase dopamine levels. An example of this is nicotine, which is why it is quite easy to get “hooked” on tobacco, due to the pleasurable and rewarding sensations it creates. Among the medications, there are some such as apomorphine, deprenyl and ropinirole. In this article we talk about.
- Lack of sleep. The fact that there is a lack of rest hours can considerably increase dopamine levels, as the brain tries to overexert itself to cope with the day’s tasks. That is, through dopamine we try to compensate for the lack of energy caused by not sleeping.
- Food. Some foods contain dopamine precursors, so their consumption could slightly increase their levels. Among these are bananas, almonds and dairy products.
- Genetics. As in everything, a large part of the cause of diseases is genetics, which makes us more prone to suffer from a disorder.
Can having too high levels of dopamine have any consequences? We see some alterations related to excess dopamine:
- Psychosis and schizophrenia. A high level of dopamine and a hyperactivated brain can cause psychosis or symptoms related to , such as . In fact, the way to treat the disease is through antipsychotics, which are responsible for reducing dopamine levels.
- Bipolar disorder. He goes from a depressive phase to a manic phase. It has been seen that an excess of dopamine is produced in the manic phase. That is why in this disease, on many occasions, the use of antipsychotic drugs is applied, in order to alleviate the symptoms of said phase.
- motor tics. Excess dopamine can cause unnecessary movements, such as motor tics. It is also related to dopamine, but is caused by a lack of it.
Dopamine regulates very important functions such as memory, sleep or mood. That is why it is of great importance to regulate dopamine levels. If you have an excess of this neurotransmitter, how can you lower dopamine? There are two main ways to reduce excess dopamine:
Medication
As we mentioned in this same article, antipsychotics They are a type of drugs that work to reduce the level of dopamine. These are very common for the treatment of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or psychosis.
Feeding
In addition, a diet rich in various foods that help elevate can also cause dopamine to decrease as a result. Some of these foods are carbohydrates.
On the other hand, there are other types of foods rich in L-tyrosine, which is a precursor of dopamine that would be better avoid: caffeine, dark chocolate, duck, oatmeal, cheese and chicken.
Finally, as we have seen, stress levels are also related to dopamine regulation. In the following article, you will find information for . One of the most effective practices is relaxation, so we leave you a guided relaxation video below.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.