Rimonabant

Dr. Robert Lustig’s The Hacking Of The American Mind has been nourishing my mind this week and offers a fascinating look at the accelerated developments that have taken place within our hearts and minds over the past half century.

As Lustig tells it, everything we do and say in this world is determined by reward. Our actions consciously (or not) inviting financial, sexual, emotional and/or spiritual gratification in response. With capitalism’s emergence as the dominant world order, it has given rise to a new age of global conglomerates that manipulate us into scratching this itch with ever greater consistency.

To validate his point, Lustig speaks to the emergence of Rimonabant, a powerful prescriptive drug that promised to stop obesity in its tracks in the mid-noughties. Early tests were wildly successful, with patients losing all interest in junk food while their overall appetite miraculously dissipated. The anti-obesity drug’s winning formula successfully severed access to the CB1 receptor, the ‘feel good-munchies receptor’ that kindly reminds us when we’re hungry (and ensures we don’t make fools of ourselves in social situations).

Yet as trials progressed, further studies began to reveal alarming side-effects, with ongoing use negating interest in reward altogether. This reality contributed to a rise in anxiety levels and, in some cases, suicide, ultimately resulting in the drug’s commercial demise.

Reading about the devastating effects of Rimonabant left me reflecting on my own relationship to reward. How too much (or too little) of a good thing can leave me at my wit’s end. While it’s no easy feat to strike a balance, working towards a sense of equilibrium in our daily lives not only helps us to maximize our innermost potential but protects us from the clutches of addiction.