Dopamine Addiction and the Seven of Swords: A call to steal back our attention
The Dopamine Compulsion spell: How our Motivation System gets Hijacked
This week I’ve been doing a deep dive into the world of Dopamine. What it is, how it shapes motivation and survival, and how companies exploit that science to keep us hooked.
Essentially, dopamine is the neurotransmitter that drives motivation, helping us seek food, water, shelter, and sex–the basics for survival. Under chronic stress (and who isn’t stressed these days, with you know, ~waves hands at everything~), dopamine levels drop, leaving us less motivated to care for ourselves and meet those basic needs. In an effort to restore balance, our body then craves quick “hits” of scrolling, sugar, shopping, a drink, anything that gives us a surge of dopamine. The problem is that dopamine operates in short bursts that create fleeting pleasure that leaves us wanting more. This motivation system then gets hijacked into believing that chasing these dopamine hits are necessary for our survival. But after the activity is over or the substance wears off, we experience a drop both in dopamine and in serotonin–the neurotransmitter that produces the steadier state of contentment and wholeness.
We can see why those in the business of selling us things would prefer that we were continually chasing dopamine hits rather than feeling content. Those who feel content and satiated are less likely to spend money buying things they don’t really need.
To add insult to injury, research also shows that when our dopamine system gets hijacked by addiction, the parts of our brain that are responsible for flexible thinking and being able to make decisions based on considering long-term consequences become compromised and can even experience a decrease in gray matter, possibly because of the bursts of dopamine. This means companies have essentially been casting compulsion spells–getting us addicted (on purpose) so that they can profit off of us while also damaging our ability to consider long-term consequences and make fully conscious decisions. In the words of Gabor Maté,
“This mind-hacking–in today’s parlance–to induce mass addictions directly undermines free will, and I mean that neurochemically. By design, the power of the prefrontal cortex to override cravings is dampened, and the capacity of the lower emotional circuits to subvert rational thought ratcheted up. It’s an appalling example of how rampant free-enterprise materialism has hi-jacked the science of neurophysiology to deregulate the brain, just as it ‘deregulates’ the financial markets.”
Are you angry yet?
Good.
You should be.
Anger as Alchemy: Turning Outrage into Medicine with the Seven of Swords
We can alchemize anger. Anger arises when we have been harmed or wronged and tells us that we need to make changes. Already feeling angry and activated, my mind swimming with facts about dopamine and neuromarketing (yes, that’s a thing), I pulled the Seven of Swords. The imagery on the card from this particular deck spoke to me instantly: “We need to steal our attention back.”
Seven of Swords Tarot Card from The Somnia Tarot deck by Nicholas Bruno
You see, our attention is our life. What we pay attention to becomes our life experience.
If we don’t pay attention to something, it does not become a part of our life experience (I am not saying this to advocate for bypassing in any way. We can’t just not pay attention to things and pretend they don’t exist… that’s not only highly problematic but can also be detrimental to our own and others’ mental and physical health. But that’s a post for another day…).
A question I ask my clients to illustrate this point is, “At the end of your life, what would you like to remember about how you lived?” The question is a little dark, but darkness will always be a part of life. I want you to consider how you spend your time.
When you’re on your deathbed, are you going to say, “You know, I’m really glad I spent all those hours scrolling or playing that phone game.” Or, “It was really meaningful to me that I stayed inside, ordered takeout, shopped online, and binged Netflix shows every weekend.” This is not a judgment. My screentime stats are way higher than I’d like them to be too (which is the whole point I’m getting at here). This is an invitation to get really honest with yourself about how you spend your time and whether those activities are aligned with what is truly important to you.
The reason why these activities have become so normalized and take up so much of our time and attention is because neuromarketing exists. Companies have specifically designed ads, foods, drinks, apps, all sorts of media to monopolize our minds and our attention. They have been casting compulsion spells to get us and keep us addicted to quick dopamine hits that leave us perpetually seeking more, while also jeopardizing our ability to feel content and whole.
Seven of Swords: Meaning and Medicine against Neuromarketing
Getting back to the Seven of Swords, the suit of swords is the suit of the mind, and the seven of swords is often interpreted as dishonesty or stealing. I think I’ve made the case on how even this simplified interpretation fits this situation: companies have been, quite literally, stealing our attention and money for their profits.
Seven of Swords tarot card from the Smith-Rider-Waite tarot deck
Tarot teacher Lindsay Mack invites us to ask the following questions when we pull the Seven of Swords: “What do you think you need that you don’t already have? What are you not or are unwilling to pay attention to?” If we decide to become more conscious, these are questions that will help us decide, as I often ask my stepkids, “Is this an actual need, or is this a want?” Remember, dopamine will have us convinced that the activity or substance we have become addicted to is a survival need and will motivate us to pursue it as if it were. We need to consciously remind our brains and bodies that it isn’t.
Lindsay also teaches that the sevens in tarot come up to invite us to do inner work around something we feel is external. When our dopamine system has been hijacked, we are convinced that the next hit, the next purchase, the next meal is going to be what makes us happy. The Seven of Swords reminds us that we will never find contentment that way–the system has truly been rigged against us. True contentment comes from within (with the help of Serotonin).
The guidebook from my first ever tarot deck (Steampunk Tarot by Barbara Moore and Aly Fell) says of the Seven of Swords, “The building represents society. She is outside of society, at least right now, yet it sees her and judges her… Even if the swords are hers, even if she is simply refusing to participate in society, society does consider that a theft.”
The Seven of Swords tarot card from the Steampunk Tarot deck by Barbara Moore and Aly Fell
If you think the word “addiction” only belongs to those who use street drugs, cigarettes, or alcohol, I would like to illuminate that the substances and behaviors that have been purposely designed and marketed to keep us addicted to the dopamine hits they provide include (but are not limited to):
phone and screen devices and apps, including social media, TV, and games
ultraprocessed food and drinks designed with the sugar, carbs, and fat to activate both our dopamine and opiate receptors
gambling in casinos or online
the beauty industry, which also plays on our self-worth and body image
tobacco and nicotine products from cigarettes to vapes to Zyns…
I could go on, but I think you get the picture. So many of these products and behaviors have become so normalized they make up a large portion of how we spend our time and money. When we become more conscious and decide to take our power back by opting out of chasing dopamine hits when and where we can, we will likely get some pushback from society and those around us to the tune of, “Can’t you just be normal?”
The medicine of the Seven of Swords invites us to take back our attention and our power. While it may be almost impossible to avoid contact with all of the behaviors and products that have been designed to keep us addicted, I’m hoping after reading this that you can approach them more consciously. For me, that means setting app time limits and downtime on my phone, swapping ultraprocessed food and drinks for whole foods as much as possible, waiting to make purchases to try to avoid manipulated impulse-buys, and engaging in activities that boost serotonin. Small shifts add up. I invite you to opt out of the dopamine hit hamster wheel and practice curating your attention too.
Subscribe to catch my next post: everyday practices for naturally boosting serotonin–our counter-spell against neuromarketing’s compulsion spells.