TECHNICAL SUPPLEMENT · CHAPTER 21

The Hedonic Treadmill

Every time you get what you wanted, your brain raises the price of the next one. I walk through what tolerance actually looks like in a living human brain, why the slot-machine story everybody repeats is wrong in one exact way, and why unpredictable timing matters more than the size of any reward. Then I do the thing my own argument made tempting to skip: I tell you what the careful screen-time evidence really shows, even though it disappoints the people who came for a scare.

14 pages · 23 references, every one verified · written by Dr. Gurpreet Singh Padda, MD, MBA, MHP

Watch Chapter 21

The chapter on video — the same argument, with the figures and the studies on screen as they come up.

The receipts behind Chapter 21

The book makes the argument. This supplement shows the evidence, claim by claim: the study, who was in it, the number and where it sits in the paper, what it does not show — and the questions to bring to your own physician. It is written to be shared with your doctor.

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Educational material, not medical advice. If you are in the St. Louis area and want this looked at properly, that is what the Addictionology Center is for.