The Pleasure Trap: Why Dopamine Isn’t Your Friend

We live in a world designed to hijack our brains. Notifications. Sugar. Endless scroll. Clickbait. Cheap thrills on tap. Capitalism has learned how to pull our dopamine levers – and we’re left wondering why we feel constantly drained, lonely, or numb.

Let’s get this out of the way: pleasure isn’t bad. But it’s not the same as happiness.

Pleasure is dopamine-driven.

It’s fast. It’s flashy. It’s that ping on your phone, that irresistible smell of chips (or doughnuts … mmmm doughnuts! Where was I?), that little rush when someone likes your post. It’s also what fuels addiction. You get the hit, then the come-down. You chase the next one. And the next. Until you’re exhausted and somehow emptier than when you started.

Happiness is serotonin-based.

It’s slower and it takes time. It’s cultivated, not captured. It comes from things like purpose, connection, creativity, feeling safe. Not sexy, I know – but reliable. Nourishing. A long game.

As Gabor Maté writes in The Myth of Normal (p. 298, if you’re playing along at home), the rise of addiction isn’t about individual weakness – it’s about systems that breed disconnection, stress, and unmet emotional needs. Neoliberalism tells us we’re on our own, then sells us sugar, porn, social media, and fast fashion to cope.

Fat, sugar, salt – the holy trinity of addictive food.

Ultra-processed food is engineered for pleasure, not satiety. It spikes dopamine and leaves you hungry. The result? Rising rates of obesity and metabolic illness – which we’re told are personal failings, not the natural outcome of profit-driven food systems and social inequality.

And let’s not forget: dopamine is the engine of most modern apps.

Social media platforms literally run on your brain’s reward system. Every like, every swipe, every autoplay – it’s all part of the design. You’re not weak. We are being manipulated.

So what do we do?

Start noticing. Notice when you’re chasing a high vs. when you’re building something meaningful. Swap the quick fix for the slow burn: a walk, a phone-free meal, time with a friend, making music, writing something real. It won’t spike your dopamine – but it might lift your soul.