Ghosting, Dopamine, and the Receptors
The hosts spiral from ghosting and dopamine depletion into pop psychology, supplement chaos, and the lure of maxing out Wellbutrin to “feed the receptors.” It all ends in a riotous victory lap through decoys, imposters, and the absurd logic of turning rejection into a full-blown mindfuck.
Chapter 1
Dopamine Biohacking and the Art of Rationalizing Rejection
Justin Bieber
So Cody wins the whole thing, right? And immediately the consensus is, well, okay, mindfuck won out of bizarre, phony, and all of the above. Absolute poetry.
Roxanne
I mean, it really is a victory for mindfuck. But you know what my biggest takeaway was? It was not even the victory itself. It was realizing that, um, ghosting literally depletes your dopamine. Like, Duncan explained this term ghosting to me, and suddenly everything clicked. I was like, oh, my brain is not broke, my dopamine is just totally depleted.
Debbie
Right. Because why face the simple, mundane reality that someone just did not text you back, when you can diagnose yourself with a catastrophic neurotransmitter crisis? It is so much easier to tell your friends, I am not being rejected, my reward system is suffering from an acute clinical collapse.
Justin Bieber
Exactly! It is like back in school when you take a test and the teacher says, well, you will get your grades back in three days. Three days! What does that do for dopamine, man? We do an achievement and our minds instantly want that reward right now! We cannot wait three days!
Debbie
Imagine applying pop psychology to an eighth grade spelling test. You do not get your score on the spot and suddenly you are staggering down the hallway screaming about your depleted reward pathways. It is absurd.
Roxanne
Well, but it is real! Like, dopamine equals energy, equals sex, equals motivation, right? So if you get ghosted or you are waiting three days for a test result, you are just messing with those neurotransmitters in a really bad way. Which is why yesterday, when the cigarette cravings started coming back out of nowhere, I was like, wait, what did I take? Oh yeah, yesterday you had five HTP.
Debbie
Ah yes, the classic biohacking ritual. You take random over the counter supplements, brush your teeth to fight off physical withdrawal symptoms, and wonder why your brain feels like a pinball machine. Look, according to clinical data published by NCBI Bookshelf, Bupropion, or Wellbutrin, is an antidepressant and smoking cessation aid that inhibits dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake, and the maximum daily dose is four hundred fifty milligrams.
Justin Bieber
Wait, four hundred fifty? Is that why someone told me, you gotta go to the four fifty on your Wellbutrin to get those receptors fed? You gotta feed the receptors, man! Get that reward system back in play!
Debbie
Cragging a prescription drug straight up to its absolute ceiling of four hundred fifty milligrams per day just because someone did not text you back after a coffee date is not biohacking. That is taking an express elevator to severe side effects.
Roxanne
But you need something to crunch, you know? Like, when Cody won, it was definitely some sort of a crunch. And if people around you are acting strange, you start to realize, wait, they are just decoys. They are imposters! They are phonies, Ryan! They are fakes, these people in these bibs or whatever, you cannot trust them!
Justin Bieber
The decoys in the bibs! Man, that escalated so fast! We went from a simple dopamine depletion to a full on conspiracy theory about phony decoys roaming the streets!
Debbie
It is the ultimate psychological defense mechanism. Step one, redefine personal rejection as a neurochemical failure. Step two, double your medication to feed the receptors. Step three, when you still feel terrible, decide everyone around you is an imposter wearing a bib sent to sabotage your dopamine cycle.
Roxanne
Hey, you do not need to be ashamed of how your brain works sometimes, okay? The Red Sea lost a long time ago. Pontiac is done for. But Cody won, so mindfuck wins. And honestly, I think it is a good victory.
Justin Bieber
Mindfuck officially takes the crown! Who needs emotional maturity when you can just declare victory for chaos?
Debbie
Well, at least we have settled it. When life gives you lemons, do not reflect on yourself. Just max out your prescription, blame the decoys, and celebrate the mindfuck.