Human dissatisfaction seems to be related to our evolution and the essential role of dopamine in our brain. Expectations and reality often collide, leading to a persistent feeling of desire and frustration. A war with ourselves, wanting to have it all and always seeking more, because we are never satisfied; once a goal is achieved, another one is created. From a motivational standpoint, it is vital, but it also generates frustrations about expectations that cannot always be met. This neurotransmitter, commonly associated with the pursuit of pleasure, actually conditions our actions and decisions, boosts memory, and is more linked to surprise than to satisfaction. Historical cases, such as encephalitis lethargica, illustrate the desperate lack of motivation and action that accompanies the absence of dopamine. The constant need for this substance is evident in all human activity. Why do we seek more? The search for greater satisfaction appears to be an evolutionary process. Dopamine drives individuals to pursue new experiences and face challenges, which is key to long-term survival.

Experiments with animals, such as pigeons, demonstrate that the unpredictability of rewards, similar to the dynamics of social networks, can increase motivation and commitment, often in an addictive way.

Seeking New Experiences

Dissatisfaction can be seen as an evolutionary engine that promotes discovery and adaptation. Furthermore, the need to vary our experiences is fundamental for personal and social growth.

However, dopamine is poorly understood, often grasped from its most basic function: as a “pleasure chemical.”

This explanation is useful as a first approximation, but it is incorrect, according to Nikolay Kukushkin.

Associate clinical professor of Life Sciences and researcher at the Center for Neural Sciences at New York University, on BBC Future. “The problem is that dopamine doesn't actually cause pleasure,” he asserts. He explains that it's not about pleasure, but about memory.Dopamine helps the brain remember which actions led to success. Dopamine is released, and then the memories are stored better, as if dopamine were telling the brain, “In the future, do more of what you just did.” Its role in motivational dysfunction and depression: Dopamine plays a central role in motivational dysfunction and depression, primarily through its influence on the brain's reward and motivation systems. Low levels of this neurotransmitter are associated with symptoms such as anhedonia, apathy, and lack of initiative. Role in motivation. Dopamine, especially in the mesolimbic pathway, regulates motivational arousal, reward prediction, and the attribution of salience to motivating stimuli. Its deficiency causes apathy, mental fatigue, and reduced persistence toward goals, turning pleasurable tasks into overwhelming ones.

Connection with depression. In major depression, dopaminergic hypoactivity is observed in regions such as the nucleus accumbens and the ventral striatum, which explains symptoms such as anticipatory anhedonia (lack of motivation to seek rewards) and deficits in decision-making. The dopamine hypothesis proposes that this dysfunction contributes to treatment-resistant subtypes of depression, reversible in some cases by dopamine agonists.

Scientific evidence. Clinical studies show that low levels of dopamine in the mesolimbic system underlie delayed symptoms in depression, while interactions with immune inflammation amplify motivational deficits in young people. Antidepressants that increase dopamine, such as MAO inhibitors, improve motivation in these cases.

Dopamine in a social media context

Social media activates the brain's reward system by releasing dopamine intermittently, similar to a slot machine, generating immediate pleasure but also dependence. This cycle contributes to human dissatisfaction by desensitizing the brain to natural rewards and encouraging constant comparisons with idealized online lives.

Notifications, likes, and endless scrolling cause rapid spikes in dopamine, a neurotransmitter linked to motivation and pleasure. Studies show that increased social media use correlates with greater activation in brain reward regions, as found by Lin et al. in 2020. However, this excessive stimulation reduces dopaminergic sensitivity over time. Making everyday activities seem less rewarding.

Platform design exploits the unpredictability of social rewards, generating anxiety, FOMO (fear of missing out), and low self-esteem due to comparisons. This leads to emotional desensitization, depression, and difficulty concentrating, as the brain prioritizes digital stimuli over real-life interactions. In young people, the impact is greater due to their developing brain vulnerability.