Can GLP-1 agonist drugs (Ozempic) mitigate toxic political "addictions"?
Can weight loss/diabetes drugs that modulate dopamine receptors diminish political obsessions?
Over the years I've written about the apparent role that the neurotransmitter, dopamine, and the reward center of the brain play in confirmation biGLP-1as, tribalism, conspiracy theory susceptibility, and “revenge politics".
People often ask:
How do we fix this, or “detox” the country?
After studying recent clinical trial data...
...is the answer “Ozempic”?
Let’s unpack…
First, a review:
In 2018, I observed the parallels in political tribalism/conflict, and addiction.
I asked my thesis advisor if i could focus on and study the parallels between addiction and what I had been observing in the early stages of Trumpism in a grad school thesis, but was told I that this was a topic that I "could spend a lifetime on" (we didn't have time), and the program didn’t have the resources.
In 2021, I alluded to a possible addiction/dopamine link with politics during my first appearance on the Lincoln Project podcast......
Shortly, after the Lincoln Project podcast appearance, I finally put my thoughts and observations into a thread/article:
Initially, the addiction appeared to be related to the outrage, anger, or fear. But then I came across research explaining dopamine, which is related to the reward center of the brain, in terms of “subjective utility”. This got me thinking about confirmation bias, and made me realize the “addiction” wasn’t to the outrage/anger/fear. Instead, the addiction was created by repeatedly receiving a dopamine reward every time their subjective beliefs (bias) were confirmed by Rush Limbaugh, Hannity, Tucker Carlson, or whoever they plugged into...and the outrage, anger, and fear was merely the by-product of the addictive process.
But, as I explained on the Lincoln Project podcast, this addictive process may have a second, compounding factor to it because research has shown neuroanatomical regions associated with physically painful experiences exhibit increased activity when people experience social exclusion or separation, as I explained in this article about Qanon morphing into a religion:
“…the political polarization/partisanship problem actually goes even much deeper because research has shown there may be a physiological component: fMRI scans were used to show that neuroanatomical regions that are associated with physically painful experiences exhibit increased activity when people experience social exclusion or social separation. These findings indicate that it can literally become a *painful* experience when people disagree or speak out against groups of which they consider themselves to be members. This would seem to indicate that there are physiological components at play that cause people to prefer to be comfortably wrong (incorrect/uninformed), rather than uncomfortably right (correct/informed), when being right or correct would put them in contradiction with a group with whom they share an identity, or if being right or correct would threaten their group membership. If motivation or incentive for pain avoidance exists, it not only could conceivably create an aversion to objectivity or moderation, but it would incentivize groupthink, “collective narcissism”, etc.”. Similar to speaking out against a group that people derive their identity from.....there may be a pain avoidance component involved with aversions to refuting a conspiracy theory, or speaking out against a belief the rest of the group believes/propagates."
As mentioned above, dopamine is related to the “reward system” of the brain, and is involved in the pleasurable experiences related to sex, gambling, etc. Dopamine is also associated with the high experienced with cocaine use/addiction.
Similar to social exclusion/separation…..pain/discomfort avoidance is also a factor in certain addictions. For instance, the “DTs” (delirium tremens) experienced by alcoholics who suddenly quit drinking....and intense withdrawal symptoms experienced by opioid/heroin addicts who suddenly stop using.
In these instances, "relapse" provides relief from those miserable/painful withdrawal symptoms.
With this as a backdrop, it’s conceivable to conceptualize political tribalism (and perhaps even cultism), through an addiction model..... where there's a cocaine-like hit on the front end that lures them back into it....and a painful, opioid-like withdrawal that prevents them from pushing away from it.
But there’s another important factor at play in this process that not only appears to contribute to tribalism, confirmation bias, but also conspiracy theory susceptibility, radicalization, and Qanon. That factor?:
“Anticipation”
Or, as Robert Sapolsky explains in the video above:
The power of “maybe”.Now consider how anticipation affects the role dopamine plays in confirmation bias. In this context, the dopamine hit isn’t experienced by having a correct opinion/belief (their bias being confirmed), the dopamine hit is actually experienced from the “anticipation” of being “right”.
But all of this really gets interesting when viewed through the lens of dopamine optimization being tied to the 50/50, anticipation-to-reward ratio, because it would seem to have implications for radicalization and extremism:
"Since dopamine production/release isn't maximized by correctly anticipating the outcome 100% of the time....in order to experience optimal dopamine production….people would need to constantly seek out new “sources” and new information that would consistently introduce "unanticipated"/unknown details in order for them to have a heightened dopamine experience......because being 100% correct doesn't produce that."
If someone watched FOX for decades, and had memorized the talking points….they would eventually be able to anticipate future narratives 100% of the time. This would produce a limited dopamine experience, even though their biases are completely confirmed.
However, when right wing news consumers then turn on OANN, Newsmax, Alex Jones, etc., and hear new fantastical details that are added to the mainstream right-wing narrative, these people's anticipation-to-reward ratio has now been disrupted.
And as Sapolsky demonstrated in the video above, this disruption will cause dopamine spikes that are optimized when people are not able to correctly predict or “anticipate” 50% of what they are being told.This creates an incentive structure where they are “rewarded” by continually seeking out more extreme, more radical, and more delusional information and narratives in order to continually maintain the optimum 50/50, anticipation-to-reward ratio.
This process mirrors "tolerance" as seen in other forms of addiction, except that rather than building a tolerance to increased levels of an addictive substance, the individual builds a tolerance to the known (dis)information. And instead of having to increase the ingestion of an addictive substance to chase the “high", they need to continually increase the amount of new, un-anticipatable (dis)information.This results in people perpetually seeking out more delusional, more fantastical, and more conspiratorial information because, eventually, anything remotely factual has already been heard, and therefore can be “anticipated”.
With this as a backdrop, it's easy to see how this dynamic plays into Qanon and conspiracies theories.
As Sapolsky said, “’maybe’, is addictive like nothing else out there”.
“Maybe”, is the essence of conspiracy theories:
“Maybe, X is happening/occurring”...The “anticipation” and the 50/50 optimization of dopamine production may explain why people aren't deterred when predictions, and the expectations created by those predictions, do not come true in cult situations or with Qanon.
Based on this model, the delusional, non-occurring predictions may actually reinforce belief in the conspiracy/cult because it supplies the necessary 50% "miss rate" needed for optimum dopamine production…...with the other 50% of perceived “accurately anticipated” events being the result of delusional subjective interpretations of events that create “false positive” confirmations.
This follow up article analyzed a study that found parallels between white supremacy and addiction:
Now let’s circle back to the white supremacists in the article. It’s important to consider that narcissism/sociopathy may be a factor in white supremacy….or at least have a similar presentation of “symptoms”:
"White Supremecists share the same psychopathologies as Trump:
Narcissism (grandiosity is a major factor in "supremacy')
Sociopathy (reckless disregard for safety of others)."
And if narcissism is a component of white supremacy, the act or the "anticipation" of receiving *narcissistic supply* (repeatedly being told you’re superior/more “supreme” than every non-white/non-Christian human being) may produce a dopamine hit:
"When thinking about addiction/dopamine in terms of "anticipation", it's conceivable that it could apply to the "anticipation" of receiving *narcissistic supply*. Trump's brain is probably flooded w/dopamine right before going on stage at a rally."
After I wrote the original addiction model article/thread, someone shared a study by Dr. Nafees Hamid (video above) that is not only relevant to the addiction model hypothesis and the white supremacy study above….but’s it’s also relevant to past and future incidents of political violence in the U.S.
One take-away from the study is the role that “sacred values” play in the culture war escalation into political violence…..as well as with white supremacy. Similar to the pain avoidance brain scans analyzed above, the videos explain why politicians (Trump/MTG) and media personalities (Carlson/Bannon/etc.) that use their influence/platforms to enflame divisiveness are so incredibly dangerous to society.
This also explains why otherwise decent/rational people have become unrecognizable over the last 5 years, because, as explained in the video, social exclusion causes people’s “sacred values” to expand…presumably beyond actual, moral values.
This has real world application.
This thread further analyzed dopamine-related illnesses (Parkinson's/Schizophrenia)...... the effect of exposing people with altered states of perception....either due to illness or "self-medication"......to Qanon/conspiracy theories:
Yes, it would be really interesting to see studies involving exposure to political news, and dopamine-related diseases such as Parksinson's. I’ve referenced the role that excessive dopamine plays in schizophrenia and Parkinson’s related hallucinations and delusions......Schizophrenia is linked to excessive levels of dopamine in the brain. Similarly, when people overdose on cocaine, they often experience dopamine-induced paranoid delusions. This results from the cocaine blocking the reuptake of dopamine in synapses, thereby resulting in excessive levels of dopamine in the brain. Furthermore, Parkinson’s disease is caused by deficient levels of dopamine, which when treated with dopamine producing medication,…….can result in the medication overshooting its mark, causing excessive dopamine production/levels,….which, similar to a cocaine overdose, may result in the patient experiencing paranoid, delusion-like side effects that then have to be treated with anti-psychotic drugs.
This article expanded the analysis of the addiction/dopamine factor to include algorithm-created social media addiction, and social media addiction-induced sleep deprivation:
So, now let’s tie all of this together:
We live in a society where political anarchists use manipulation/exploitation of neuropsychological fight-or-flight fear responses to cause PTSD-like hyper-vigilance that is exacerbated by addiction to dopamine producing “political maybes” and social media algorithms….….that create sleep deprivation……which reinforces the PTSD-like symptoms and impairs judgments/reason/self-control/responsibility….which results in “low conscientiousness”……which results in a higher likelihood of sharing “fake news”…….which feeds the addiction for “political maybes” and conspiracy theories…..which exacerbates people’s PTSD-like hyper-vigilance….which prevents them from sleeping…..which causes them to consume and “share” (spread) more political (fake) “news”…..and rinse and repeat.
This was followed up with an expanded article that analyzed the interplay between dopamine and epinephrine (adrenaline)… which causes physical (somatic) symptoms that override the prefrontal cortex (logic/reason/judgment):
Ok, now let’s circle back to the dysfunctional state of American politics, and tie this altogether.
As has been confirmed, with the Dominion lawsuit, FOX (but really, all media) has a financial interest in using emotion, fear, stress, anxiety to keep people incited, scared, and addicted through dopamine-induced, “single rule set”, bias confirming beliefs (“the election was stolen”).
This single rule set not only prevents people from accessing alternate rule sets (“maybe Trump is lying", “maybe Trump Derangement Syndrome really did compel 81 million people to vote against him”, “maybe there was election fraud but not enough to affect the outcome”)...but it also creates the inability of people to access alternate rule sets, prevents people’s brains/PFCs from sending calming signals to the body.
The heightened physical arousal causes the insular to override the PFC, & causes people to continue to get stuck on a single rule set.Because there is a reward component to the “anticipation” of, and repetitively being confirmed about, the correctness of their “belief” in a single rule set...
..they repeatedly consume information that'll confirm that single rule set (bias), resulting in the production of dopamine.The dopamine experience, not only creates a desire for more repetitive behavior described above......but, along with the “belief of what you're learning is truly important”, it expedites the neuroplastic rewiring of the brain that makes this behavior loop "more efficient".
“More efficient”, in this neuropsychological context, means reacting to subsequent fearful/anxiety inducing engagements more intensely and for a longer duration.
Furthermore, the dopamine is also then converted into adrenaline which results in more intense somatic/physical symptoms (heart racing/jitters)….
...which send signals to the insular/ACC…
….which then overrides the PFC, and eliminates the ability to access alternate rule sets (that contradict the single rule set narrative/conspiracy)….
....which eliminates the brain’s/PFC’s ability to send calming signals to the body.
Rinse and repeat…
And finally, the analysis was expanded to include the role of dopamine.....and the "hedonic reward" experienced when engaging in *revenge politics*:
However, this research on “hedonic reward” would suggest retaliatory aggression against those who *deserved* to be punished for whatever ridiculous false narratives white supremacists embrace......would eventually result in addictive sadistic violence towards Jews, people of color, etc.
The key element of this neuropsychological process is “provocation”.
However, it's important to understand that “provocation” is either:
1. A subjective feeling/belief based upon an individual’s subjective experience….
…or…2. A subjective interpretation of an event…
….or....what is more commonly the case with politics, the subjective (manipulated) interpretation of political events, that may or may not have actually occurred, by someone with influence over the individual (Trump/FOX/Bannon, Tucker Carlson, etc).Regardless of whether it is a subjective political experience, or a subjective/manipulated interpretation of a political event.....in both cases the individual is usually experiencing the event or consuming the information with extremely high emotions.
Emotion often, if not usually, impairs our judgment, or our ability to objectively assess a situation or other people.With this as a backdrop, it becomes apparent that a real provocation may not have to actually occur for people to experience the “hedonic reward” from retaliatory aggression (violence).
Instead, there may only need to be a subjective belief....based on an emotional experience…that a provocation occurred.This subjectively experienced/interpreted “provocation” may occur more frequently in people who possess a predisposition to have a “punitive orientation”:
Narcissists/demagogues…
…people who are manipulated by narcissists/demagogues…
…and religious extremists.
Obviously, there is overlap.
....from a neuropsychological standpoint...
....it conditions people to derive enjoyment from hurting others…
….perhaps even to the point where hurting others becomes habit forming (addictive).When people engage in dopamine-rewarding actions repetitively, it creates the risk of habitual/addictive behaviors.
When those habitual/addictive behaviors include (political) violence....
....it’s not difficult to envision what that devolves into.What this study suggests is that retaliatory aggression is not only a pleasurable (“hedonic reward”) experience….but that regardless of whether it is harsh words online, or even violence towards others, retaliatory aggression may have an addictive quality to it.
Because similar to other behaviors that involve dopamine production/release….
….the more someone is “rewarded” for the behavior….
….the more they desire the reward….
….and the more they engage in the behavior that produces the reward.
Rinse and repeat.
But most relevant to the idea that Ozempic may effect toxic political engagement is research showing that......areas of the brain that activate with feelings of "CRAVINGS/SATIATION" with food.......and for social connection:
This adds another factor to analysis of the dopamine/addition model theory about the "reward system"....
....and of areas of the brain that activate when experiencing physical pain....
....may also contribute to "tribalism"/conspiracy theory susceptibility:
Basically, this suggests that other primitive evolutionary mechanisms in the brain responsible for survival (food craving/satiation).......may also be contributing to political tribalism, cult behavior, and conspiracy theory "group think".
Ok........now let’s dig into Ozempic, and its effect on dopamine-related cravings, or even addiction, to food/sugar, shopping, gambling, smoking, alcohol, cocaine, opioids, etc.?:
Ozempic seems to curb cravings for alcohol. Here's what scientists think is going onPeople taking weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy report a dampening of the urge to drink. Here's how the drugs curb cravings and what that could mean for helping treat addiction.
Earlier in the thread there was an embedded link on Parkinson’s disease. Someone asked an interesting question about his/her father becoming less radicalized/tribalized after developing Parkinsons disease.
My response back then:
Over the years, many people have asked about a “cure” for political tribalism/conspiracy theory obsessions, etc.
But as we discussed on The Great Battlefield Podcast...
...even if there was a hypothetical "cure" for toxic political “addictions”….
...it's understandably unrealistic to imagine people being receptive to being “deprogrammed”.
But, what happens when the “cure”…
…or something that diminishes the cravings (“anticipation”) of political confirmation bias, tribalism, conspiracy theory susceptibility, & the “hedonic reward” of revenge politics…
…is a side effect of diabetes/weight loss medication?