Getting Your Hit

I’ve been working in the drug and alcohol education field for over 15 years and I am still always learning new things. The way David Fialko, our speaker for the October parent speaker series webinar about Nicotine and Vaping, described how “we are all naturally drug seeking individuals” blew. my. mind.

He explained how as soon as we wake up, once we shake off the “meh”, we are in search of our first “hit” of dopamine. He then discussed natural ways to get dopamine and how vaping and nicotine disrupt this (he touched on other drugs too). Click here to watch the entire presentation. 

After the recording, I couldn’t stop thinking about the human condition to search for dopamine all day. To avoid discomfort. How was I doing things to get a hit? Social media often (much to my chagrin, but yet, still I tap away) and also positive things like calling and texting friends and family. Then I thought about my kids and what their behaviors were and it’s easy to see why kids might start to vape to handle stress, what with their not fully developed brains and all. Low effort for a pretty high reward (very high if you are using a device with THC see what I did there?).

The conversation left me pondering how we can all have a bit more grace and compassion with ourselves and our kids, especially if you have a kid that is turning to substances to cope with their stress. David does a great job explaining what it is like for a student to get through the day when they are in a constant roller coaster of use and withdraw with these highly addictive nicotine vaping products. We can all likely be kinder to ourselves while also exploring ways to get our dopamine hits in healthier ways.

What things do you do to get a hit of “dopamine”? I would love to know! Email me at cdziembowski@gmail.com or send me a DM on  instagram.