Cortisol Seeking vs. Dopamine Seeking

Understanding The Roles of Dopamine and Cortisol in Mental Health

The body and brain use cortisol and dopamine as vital neurochemical elements that perform separate tasks. Recognising their unique characteristics helps us understand mental health problems and human behavioural patterns. This article explores what these chemicals are, how they differ, and their impact on mental health.

What Is Dopamine?

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter—a chemical messenger that transmits signals between neurons in the brain. It plays several important roles:

• Reward and pleasure: Dopamine is released when we experience something pleasurable, creating feelings of reward and reinforcing behaviours that lead to that pleasure.

• Motivation: It drives us to take action toward goals, desires, and needs.

• Learning: Dopamine helps strengthen neural connections associated with rewarding experiences.

• Motor control: It assists in regulating movement and coordination.

  
  

Dopamine-seeking refers to behaviours aimed at triggering dopamine release. This includes pursuing pleasurable activities, novelty, or rewards. This system helps us learn beneficial behaviours and pursue survival-enhancing activities when functioning normally.

What Is Cortisol?

Cortisol is a steroid hormone the adrenal glands produce, primarily released during stress. Its functions include:

• Stress response: Cortisol is a key component of our "fight-or-flight" response to perceived threats.

• Energy regulation: It increases blood sugar for immediate energy needs during stress.

• Immune system regulation: Temporarily suppresses non-essential functions during acute stress.

• Inflammation control: Helps manage inflammatory responses in the body.

Cortisol follows a natural daily rhythm (highest in the morning, lowest at night) but also spikes in response to stressors.

Are Cortisol Seeking and Dopamine Seeking the Same?

No, cortisol seeking and dopamine seeking are fundamentally different processes with different purposes:

• Purpose: Dopamine seeking is about pursuing pleasure and reward. "Cortisol seeking," while not a standard clinical term, would refer to behaviours that trigger stress responses.

• Feeling: Dopamine release feels good. Cortisol release typically feels uncomfortable (anxiety, tension, alertness).

• Evolutionary purpose: Dopamine encourages beneficial behaviours by making them pleasurable. Cortisol prepares us for threats by triggering alertness and physiological readiness.

• Conscious vs. unconscious: We consciously seek dopamine-triggering experiences because they feel good. We don't typically seek cortisol-triggering experiences for their own sake.

However, there's an important nuance: some people engage in stress-inducing activities that might appear to be "cortisol seeking." This isn't usually about seeking cortisol itself but often relates to:

• The dopamine rush that follows stress relief

• Feeling "alive" through intense experiences

• Using stress to escape emotional numbness

• Finding stress more familiar/comfortable than calm (especially for those with trauma histories)

How These Systems Present in People with Poor Mental Health

Problematic Dopamine Seeking

When dopamine systems become dysregulated, several conditions can develop:

• Addiction: The brain becomes dependent on substances or behaviours that trigger dopamine release, requiring increasing stimulation to achieve the same reward feeling.

• Impulse control issues: Difficulty resisting immediate dopamine rewards despite negative consequences.

• Anhedonia: In depression, reduced dopamine signalling can lead to an inability to feel pleasure from normally rewarding activities.

• Risk-taking behaviour: Engaging in increasingly dangerous activities to achieve dopamine release.

  
  

Problematic Cortisol Patterns

When stress response systems become dysregulated:

• Anxiety disorders: Persistent high cortisol states, with the body staying in "alert mode" even without genuine threats.

• PTSD: Trauma can reshape the stress response system, leading to both hyperarousal (excessive cortisol response) and numbing.

• Chronic stress: Prolonged cortisol elevation can damage brain structures, especially the hippocampus, affecting memory and emotional regulation.

• Depression: Chronic high cortisol is associated with certain types of depression, particularly those featuring high anxiety.

• Physical health consequences: Persistently high cortisol levels are linked to cardiovascular disease, digestive problems, and immune system suppression.

Counterintuitive Behaviours

Some mental health conditions feature seemingly contradictory behaviours related to these systems:

• Trauma bonding: People with trauma histories may unconsciously recreate stressful situations because the subsequent relief provides dopamine rewards.

• Crisis-generating behaviour: Some individuals create crises to experience the intensity of cortisol spikes followed by resolution, which can provide:

• A sense of competence when resolving the crisis

• Relief from emotional numbness

• Attention and support from others.

• Self-sabotage: Undermining one's success or happiness can stem from finding stress more familiar than calm, especially for those raised in chaotic environments.

• "Doom scrolling": Consuming negative news content can trigger stress responses that some find oddly compelling, possibly because:

• The alert state feels productive or protective.

• There's subtle dopamine reinforcement from information-seeking.

• It validates negative worldviews.

The Intersection in Treatment Approaches

Effective mental health interventions often address both systems:

• Mindfulness practices: Reduce excess cortisol by activating the parasympathetic nervous system while providing non-harmful dopamine rewards through present-moment awareness.

• Exercise: Provides natural dopamine release while helping regulate cortisol rhythms.

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: Helps identify and modify thought patterns driving both harmful stress responses and problematic reward-seeking.

• Trauma-informed care: Recognises how early life experiences shape both stress response systems and reward learning.

Knowledge about these separate aspects, combined with the connections between cortisol and dopamine, helps explain behavioural patterns that emerge during mental health struggles. Mental health professionals, together with patients, can create better methods for neurochemical system balancing through better comprehension of these fundamental mechanisms.