Episode 6 - Anatomy of Addiction

Episode 6: Things we love about pickleball and the anatomy of an addiction

This is going to be a fun episode, so let’s talk about all the things we love and some things we hate about pickleball, then at the end we are going to take somewhat of a serious turn, but I think it’ll be some really good food for thought.

So Matt: what is something you love about pb and something you hate?

Adam: what is something you love about pb and something you hate?

Love meeting new people, hate the financial part

Hate it when people want to play before 8am

I love playing before 8am

Love playing in tournaments NOT against my friends (Abby/Matt vs Coi/Peggy did cause some stress!)

Love adding new shots to my game

Frustrated at having match point and losing!

Love networking, new friendships, setting personal goals

Dislike unnecessary drama

Love mix of people, love exercise, hate injuries

Challenge of spouses playing together

Love making new friends and all the support

Love the challenge of becoming a better player

Hate negativeness (who is playing with who, SHE got invited and I didnt’???)

Getting injured sucks (hello torn ACL)

Love playing before 8am, exercise and socializing

Hate bad line calls and drama

Love new friendships

Love trash talking

Hate organizing play

Love a sport to play with my spouse/hate playing with my spouse

Love drilling, people who drill with me

Love my pb friend who is 22 and my pb friend who is 80

Love that we would all drive so far to play pb (I’m headed to Indy in a couple weeks to play in a women’s round robin and I’m super excited to drive 2 hours to do that!)

Love competition

Smiles and laughing

Someone met the love of their life

Love social and competitive side, new friendships.

Love I can put my paddle in my bag and find a game wherever I go - including a cruise ship!

PB can be whatever you want it to be, competitive (tournaments), social (rec games), bonding (family games), PB is truly THE lifetime sport, most accessible and easiest to learn.

So let’s have the conversation around all the good things. With any activity, while humans are involved, there are going to be negatives, but I want to focus on the positive side.

But first, let’s quickly go through the anatomy of an addiction. Specifically two neurotransmitters/hormones, called dopamine and serotonin.

Feel free to check me on all this info, esp if you’re a neuroscientist listening to our podcast.

So I just read book called The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth by Sam Quinones and throughout the book he talks about how to get drug addicts (specifically oxy/heroin/meth) into recovery and one thing he mentioned was cross fit and how in this one town in Ohio that has become a sort of mecca for recovering addicts, cross fit has become an effective way to aid in the recovery of an addiction and it made me think that crossfit and pb have that addictive quality in common (how do you know someone does crossfit? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you) Well, same for pb! It’s the community/competition/high fiving/scoring high/friends thing both have going on.

Normal serotonin levels help prevent depression/anxiety (among other things), and dopamine is your reward hormone/neurotransmitter. So low levels of those not only don’t allow your brain to get those “hits” of pleasure from things like laughing, puppies, riding a bike, but at the same time, send you into a depression. Therefore someone struggling with a drug addiction can’t get pleasure hits, and doesn’t have enough serotonin to prevent depression.

Where am I going with all this info?

I think pb can truly be the answer for not only substance addiction recovery, but also the source of normal levels of serotonin and dopamine to keep us all in a good mental health position because we all know someone, or ourselves even, who are struggling with mental health.

How does pb increase serotonin:

Bring in the bright light

Spending time in the sunshine appears to help increase serotonin levels, and research

Everyone I know would rather play outside. We play inside because we have to in the north, it’s cold and windy and rainy so we need the indoor courts. But I think most people agree that playing pb in the sunshine would be our first choice.

Get more exercise

Tryptophan, an amino acid that’s converted to serotonin in your brain. Tryptophan is found primarily in high protein foods, including turkey and salmon.

Exercising triggers the release of tryptophan into your blood. It can also decrease the number of other amino acids. This creates an ideal environment for more tryptophan to reach your brain.

Aerobic exercise, at a level you’re comfortable with, seems to have the most effect, so dig out your old roller skates or try a dance class. The goal is to get your heart rate up.

Another point to note here, HIIT workouts and lifting weights actually release more endorphins, not only while working out, but for longer afterwards, than steady state cardio. AND, women have a more increased positive body image after lifting/HIIT vs. steady state cardio. So I’ll go on record to say HIIT (and I can make the case the pb is a HIIT workout) and lifting are mentally and physically more healthy for you than running.

Manage emotions and stress levels

Chronic stress is known to be linked with a host of health problems, which is why reducing stress is so important. Chronic stress can even lead to low serotonin levels. Isn’t hitting a ball around (maybe as hard as you can sometimes) with your friends such a stress reliever?

How to increase dopamine:

Avoid overindulging in alcohol or recreational drug use

While occasionally having a glass of wine or using cannabis may not have a negative impact on some people’s lives, others struggle with moderate use of drugs and alcohol, which cause a surge of dopamine. And then that’s what fires the dopamine, the drug use, not normal day to day activities like laughing, babies, puppies, pizza, etc……

Exercise regularly to increase dopamine

Getting regular exercise is always on the list of things that make life better, and it’s no different when it comes to dopamine. Even just a brisk 30-minute walk every day can lead to healthier levels of dopamine. pleasurable release of dopamine from the activity will reinforce the behavior.

Spend time outside

Spending time outside is easily paired with exercise, especially during the summer and spring months when the weather is nice.

At least one study has shown that people who had more time in the sunlight had an increased number of dopamine receptors, compared to those who got less time in the sunshine.

Engage in healthy, pleasurable activities

Obviously this will vary from person to person, but engaging in healthy and pleasurable activities will naturally increase dopamine to benefit the mind and body.

These activities can include anything from hiking, to spending time with family or friends, learning a new language, playing a musical instrument, or even listening to music.

Eliminate as many life stressors as possible

Toxic or chronic stress can wreak havoc on our life and is often a key driver of unhealthy behaviors, such as alcohol and drug use that lead to dopamine deficiencies.

It’s not always easy to eliminate stress on our own. Seeking counseling or therapy can help people identify, alter, or remove stressors from his or her life that may ultimately increase dopamine levels and lead to a healthier and a better overall life.

Most of these suggestions for how to increase dopamine can be fairly easy to incorporate into daily life and offer the benefits of better mood and mental health.

For those who have low levels due to substance use, drug or alcohol treatment for addiction may be necessary to get back on track with a healthier lifestyle.

You can see that both serotonin and dopamine are positively affected by the same activities.

So after all this, what is the call to action? It’s safe to say we have a mental health crisis in America, as evidenced by drug use, overdoses and the suicide rate. Just be a pb advocate, invite someone to play with you, think past just the pb, but think about the actual, real changes to the brain that pb can make.

Optional (I want to mention Gizmopickleballcom He is married with two kids and if you visit his website you can check him out, but he is a mental health advocate, and helps teach at-risk kids life skills, along with pb. And once you realize the mental health benefits pb can have, it’s totally worth teaching kids and adults alike considering the mental health/addiction crisis in our country)

And if you’re listening to this and someone in your life doesn’t understand the draw of pb, send this podcast to them and maybe they will either understand better, or even be appreciative of all the good things pb has brought into your life. Maybe this will even motivate that loved one to start playing, or let you play more. As Jigsaw health would say “It’s fun to feel good” and while that is so true physically, it’s also so true mentally.