This is a post I believe most adults and young adults can resonate with—social media. At first, I thought MySpace was my introduction to social media, but after reflecting, I realized that as a ‘90s kid, my first real social media experience was AIM (AOL Instant Messenger). At 12
Lately, I’ve been hyper-aware of how much my brain craves the dopamine hit of anticipation—especially when it comes to certain people. Right now, I find myself fixated on a text I sent this morning, waiting for a response that hasn’t come yet. Logically, I know it’s
As a child, I was cripplingly shy. I didn’t have many friends, and my earliest memories of preschool and kindergarten in Chicago are filled with feelings of ridicule, teasing, and isolation. When I tried to fit in, I was shut down. I had one best friend, but beyond that,
Introduction Dopamine—the brain’s chemical reward system—drives much of our behavior, often without us even realizing it. For those with ADHD, like myself, the chase for dopamine can shape daily decisions, productivity, and even life paths. But what about those who don’t have an official diagnosis? Can
That is the question. There are memories embedded deep in my mind of instances that looking back displayed my "uniqueness." Moments that I now recognize as screaming undiagnosed ADHD, but as a high achieving female, went overlooked for the first three and a half decades of my life.
Welcome to Chasing Dopamine—a project that has probably been years in the making. As a teenager, I meticulously documented my daily life through (embarrassingly) detailed journal entries. Each journal was a creative expression of myself, filled with snapshots of my mind—events, hopes, loves, pain, and the countless choices