Dopamine, Stress and Tackling Demotivation

How The Critical Neurotransmitter Impacts Us

Having suffered from depression before, and I’d imagine I do to some degree today, I know all too well the feeling of demotivation.

The feeling of wanting to do something in your mind but feeling like the last thing your muscles want to do is to move. The feeling of knowing you should cook dinner but not finding the energy to move off the couch. The feeling of wanting to write a new blog post, but finding the effort of conceiving and researching a new idea too much.

Demotivation is a b*tch. It breeds unproductivity and can worsen symptoms of depression and low self-worth.

And this isn’t to say demotivation strikes only those with mental health issues. Demotivation can hit anyone; from the person who’s hungover after partying too hard, to the person who had a bad day at work. Demotivation can hit us hard at any time.

Luckily, if we know how our brains and motivation work, we can work to improve our situations. I am a big believer in knowledge as an aid, especially when it comes to human behavior. How else can we improve our situation other than learning about it?

I wanted to speak about the Scientific research around motivation today and how we can generate motivation during difficult times. Read on to find out more.

The Brains Motivation Center: An Overview

I recently spoke of this in more depth in my article overviewing dopamine and motivation in our brains -check it out here- but will provide a short overview in this article for new readers.

Dopamine works in the brain to govern numerous functions, motivation included, and is released in high quantities when we’re approached by, or think of, potentially rewarding experiences. The example I always use is debating whether we want sweet foods or vegetables in the store.

When presented with either food, dopamine will be released in higher quantities when we’re presented with sugar because sweets trigger pleasure in our brains at higher levels than vegetables do. Dopamine is therefore the coding signature for how potentially rewarding something will be. We then feel more motivated depending on how perceiving pleasurable we view something to be.

The mechanisms underlying motivation occur primarily in the midbrain with close associations to areas that govern memory (our hippocampus) and fear (our amygdala). As we move through life, our brain is constantly reassessing what is good for us and what is not. When something good happens that we didn’t expect, more dopamine is released than normal and when things are less rewarding than expected, less dopamine will be released.

These differences in dopamine signaling help our brains readjust to our constantly altering environment so that if we believe something will be good for us, and it ends up not being good, our expectations can change. The same goes the other way. We’ll come back to this later.

Dopamine and Demotivation

If we think of demotivation, we can be “demotivated” at any time. I’m drinking a cola whilst I write this and I’m “demotivated” to drink the water next to it. The cola tastes nicer, so the water gets a pass. When we’re feeling motivated toward one thing, we’ll naturally feel demotivated toward another.

But the demotivation I spoke of at the beginning of the article is a different demotivation. It’s the demotivation towards macro circumstances beyond what we want to choose to drink or not drink. Like waking up early to get sh*t done, or working on a project you KNOW will be good for you but you procrastinate on.

So what’s happening in our motivation center to make us feel demotivated, and what circumstances may be contributing towards these changes? If we know dopamine is involved with the feeling of motivation, and that more dopamine release = greater motivation, then something must be changing if we’re feeling demotivated.

Let’s look at what the science says.

Factors Impacting Demotivation: Mild-Moderate Stress

It seems stress impacts our motivation center in an inverted U-shaped curve (n) with minimal stress levels triggering avoidance behaviors, acute/moderate levels of stress spurring motivation, and chronic stress triggering demotivation.

Procrastination is a good example of this. Think of a time when you’ve worked towards a project deadline. As project work requires effort, the imagination of performing the task can create a sense of stress — this then motivates us to choose the short-term fulfilling option of procrastination (like watching Netflix, seeing friends, etc.)

However, as the deadline approaches and you begin to realize you’re running out of time, stress levels increase further and we’re spurred into action. This is why you’ll often see students pulling all-nighters before an exam or find yourself running around like a headless chicken. Acute stress increases dopamine in our motivation center leading to bursts of motivation — highlighted in studies.

At the other end of the curve, we have chronic stress — an epidemic in 21st Century society and an important point of this article.

Factors Impacting Demotivation: Chronic Stress

Studies consistently show that chronic states of stress decrease dopamine signaling in the motivation center. As a result, studies in chronically stressed rats, highlight them with less initiative to escape environments that are causing them harm. This is similar in nature to those of us who don’t feel motivated to do something even when life pressures are piling up.

Why this occurs? Without getting too complicated, scientists believe it’s due to changes in the way dopamine is being registered in the brain. It’s as if constant activity due to stress reduces the effectiveness of dopamine — stopping it from functioning as it once did. This is termed dopamine sensitivity.

Due to reduced Dopamine activity, we in turn feel demotivated, apathetic, and careless towards the problems that need addressing in our lives.

So why does any of this matter to you?

Becoming More Aware of Life Stressors

Daily we’re all bombarded by different stressors from our work, to our families, to our societies, to the world — all of which can be directly felt or manipulated by our perceptions and mental health.

Over time, this stress can cumulate without our awareness to the point where we snap. This is where physical and mental illnesses are born. In the meantime, you may notice declines in your motivation as stress causes dopamine function decline — but you also may not.

*Many of us ignore these feelings as we’re never taught to recognize them. It would also mean taking steps back from responsibilities that others are benefiting on through your continued efforts.

As a rule of thumb, if you’re finding yourself increasingly demotivated and are losing interest in the things you previously found enjoyable, it’s imperative you take a step back and reassess your stress levels. Are you pushing yourself too far? Have you allowed others’ expectations to drive you to burnout?

Motivation Recovery

Luckily our brains are malleable and no chemical changes (like dopamine reductions) are permanent when stress is involved. In taking time out to rest, stress levels will drop and your motivation levels will return.

But of course, not all of us can drop everything and fly to a hot destination for relaxation and endless spa treatments. We have to be practical. If you need time off work, take it. If mental strains are causing you problems, seek help or invest in self-care.

When it comes to working through tasks that seem challenging but need to be done, approach them in short, incremental steps. When we approach challenges with this mindset and celebrate our small wins, we increase our likelihood of success. Conversely, when we try and carry too much weight at once, we increase our stress levels further and are likely to give up in the process.

So even if it’s only cleaning your bedroom or investing in small doses of self-care, celebrate this and reward yourself for it.

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