Overcome Addictions & Obsessions of All Kinds | Dr. Anna Lembke

What the episode covered

Dr. Anna Lembke said severe addiction can be understood as addiction to control, not only to a substance or behavior. The discussion was candid and clinical, but it also promoted Lembke’s new book and sat beside multiple health-product ads. Watch whether the specific clinical figures and emerging-treatment claims get published with denominators and study details.

Our summary, written from the transcript. Not the speakers' words.

The episode, in order

1. 01Digital media addiction

   This sets digital media as a central example of modern addiction rather than a side issue.

2. 02Addiction basics

   The episode anchors later spiritual and behavioral arguments in a conventional clinical definition.

3. 03Homeostasis and withdrawal

   This is the mechanistic frame for her treatment recommendations.

4. 04Surrender and control

   This connects addiction treatment to the central argument of her new book.

5. 05Codependency

   The episode expands addiction language from substances and behaviors to family and relationship patterns.

6. 06New and risky interventions

   This is where the conversation becomes most clinically actionable and most dependent on evidence not fully shown in the recording.

Sponsors named in this episode

No sponsor named doesn't mean no ads. Each row was taken from the ad break as it was read on air. The verbatim passage behind every row is checked against the transcript character for character. Short excerpts appear below.

Roles and stated affiliations

Sponsor or conflict flagged. Health-product advertising in a health-science episode — The episode discusses addiction, dopamine, treatments, sleep, metabolism, and health behavior while carrying ads for glucose tracking, mattresses, supplements, lab testing, and electrolytes. · Host endorsement language — Huberman uses first-person endorsement language in several ad reads, including personal use of Lingo, Helix, AG1, Function, and Element. · Commercial disclosure stated — The recording says, "In keeping with that theme, today's episode does include sponsors." It does not state the financial terms of those sponsorships.

Wakewire's read of interests

• Andrew Huberman: He hosts the podcast, presents it as zero-cost science and science-related tools, discloses that the episode includes sponsors, and endorses several sponsor products during ad reads.
• Dr. Anna Lembke: She appears as a Stanford addiction clinician and expert, discusses her clinical observations, and discusses her new book, Radical Surrender.
• Named sponsors: The recording contains ad reads for Lingo by Abbott, Helix Sleep, AG1, Function, Element, and Velux skylights.

Claims that need more support

• Lembke said 50% of adolescent clinic referrals are for digital media addiction, but the recording does not give the denominator, time period, or diagnostic criteria.
• Lembke said about 80% of people usually feel significantly better by week three or four after abstinence, but the recording does not identify the supporting study or population.
• Lembke said some severe alcohol-addiction patients get into recovery on GLP-1 drugs after other tools failed, but the recording does not give patient counts, follow-up duration, or study details.

Claims made on air that the episode itself did not back up.

Are you from this show? You can ask for a correction, reply, or ask us to stop coverage on the rights page.

What was said

• Digital media addiction

  Lembke said awareness of online harms has increased, while behavior has not improved, and that adolescent referrals for digital media addiction are now about 50% in her clinic.

• Addiction basics

  Lembke described addiction through the four Cs, tolerance, withdrawal, and dopamine release in the reward pathway.

• Homeostasis and withdrawal

  She used the pleasure-pain balance model to explain craving, withdrawal, relapse, and why abstinence or medication can help restore homeostasis.

• Surrender and control

  She said the severest cases of addiction are often about control and that spiritual surrender can interrupt rigid control loops.

• Codependency

  She described codependency as a form of trying to regulate oneself through controlling another person and recommended surrender practices and 12-step groups.

• New and risky interventions

  The discussion covered psychedelics, ketamine, stimulants, and GLP-1 drugs, with Lembke stressing both potential benefit and possible harm.

Our paraphrase, not the speakers' words.

The passages we relied on

Short excerpts, credited to the show, at most 40 words each and 150 per episode. We do not publish transcripts. We link to the episode so you can hear it from the show itself.

What to watch for

• Whether Lembke, Stanford, or a related clinic publishes the denominator, time period, and diagnostic criteria behind the statement that 50% of adolescent referrals are for digital media addiction. (future publications or clinic reporting)
• Whether controlled studies of GLP-1 drugs for alcohol use disorder report reduced craving, reduced drinking, or abstinence outcomes in patients who did not respond to other interventions. (next clinical trial cycle)
• Whether ketamine treatment programs adopt in-clinic dosing with psychotherapy for addiction-risk patients rather than take-home use. (practice guidance and provider policy updates)
• Whether later talks or papers continue to describe the PAG and serotonin account of spiritual surrender as emerging science rather than a settled mechanism. (future interviews and publications)