Podcast Summary

Dr. Trish Leigh Podcast – Episode #199: Holiday Overstimulation: How the Season Hijacks Your Dopamine—And What Your Brain Actually Needs
Host: Dr. Trish Leigh
Release Date: December 7, 2025

Episode Overview

In this timely holiday episode, Dr. Trish Leigh explores how the holiday season leads to dopamine overload, miswiring the brain and draining emotional bandwidth. With science-backed insights and personal anecdotes, she guides listeners to recognize the neurological effects of holiday overstimulation—and offers practical, actionable strategies for achieving calm, connection, and regulation amidst the chaos.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Perfect Storm of Holiday Overstimulation

• Triggers Identified

  • Gift shopping and spending
  • Social media comparison and FOMO
  • Sugar and alcohol overload
  • Social pressure and packed calendars
  • Bright lights, noise, and sensory bombardment
  • Emotional obligations to "make Christmas happen"
  • Existing digital overstimulation

• Main Takeaway

  “During December, your brain faces an overload of dopamine triggers… your reward system becomes miswired, and your emotional bandwidth drains quickly.” — Dr. Trish Leigh [01:04]

2. The Neuroscience Behind the Hijack

• Dopamine System Overload

  • Multiple rapid-fire dopamine triggers overwhelm the brain.
  • Instead of excitement, result is numbness, anxiety, irritability, and lack of motivation.
  • Overstimulation can also worsen sexual arousal dysfunction and intimacy concerns.

• Miswired State

  • Overactive reward circuitry (nucleus accumbens, ventral tegmental area) with underactive prefrontal cortex ("the captain of the ship" for impulse control).
  • Overeating, overspending, over-scheduling: Classic signs of dysregulation.

  “Spending money is a dopamine hit... Many people overspend at this time of year.” [06:47]
  “Wired and tired... These are all hallmark signs of a hijacked dopamine system.” [07:33]

3. Manifestations of Dopamine Hijack

• How It Shows Up (Miswiring Symptoms)

  • Hyperarousal: Edginess, constant alertness, small tasks feel big.

  • Emotional drain: Exhaustion from social events you’d usually enjoy.

  • Numbness/shutdown: Brain reduces emotional intensity (“too much alpha” in brainwaves).

  • Reduced stress tolerance: Even minor disruptions can cause major reactions.

  • Comparison-induced social pain: Social media triggers feelings of inadequacy and rejection.

    “Tiny disruptions push you over the edge. I love this concept of stress tolerance…” [11:25]
    “Holiday posts activate neural circuits that are associated with rejection or inadequacy.” [14:53]

• Memorable Anecdotes

  • Husband’s sushi incident: illustrates poor stress tolerance/composure [13:22]
  • Friend obsessed with luxury goods vs. Dr. Leigh’s value-based “balling on a budget” Poshmark strategy [15:55]

4. Unhelpful Coping Strategies (Quick Fixes That Backfire)

• More caffeine, wine, sugar, constant scrolling, over-multitasking

• Avoidance or escape into explicit matter

• These reinforce the dopamine hijack and deepen brain dysregulation.

  “If you’re scrolling, you’re seeking and searching for something you are not going to find. That is the ego sending you on a journey that will never pay off.” [16:47]

5. What Your Brain Really Needs: Regulation, Not More Stimulation

• Slow vs. Fast Dopamine

  • Fast dopamine: Spike and crash from sugar, alcohol, social media, chaos, novelty overload.

  • Slow dopamine: Derived from meaningful connection, creativity, movement, nature, rituals, gratitude, generosity.

    “Your brain wants slow dopamine, not fast dopamine. It wants the happiness trifecta from slow dopamine at lower levels combined with serotonin for joy and oxytocin for connection.” [18:46]

• Dr. Leigh’s “Winter Arc” Ritual:

  • Early to bed and rise, intention setting, writing, family bonding, meaningful traditions [17:13–19:30]
  • Heartwarming family moment: kids playing laughter-filled games in the basement

6. Concrete Strategies for a Healthy Holiday Brain

A. Daily Rhythms and Anchoring Rituals

• Morning routines: hydration, mindful movement, Five Tibetan Rites, slow start

• Daily walks and meals with family

• Stable evening wind-down (dim lights, candles, relaxing with spouse)

• Predictable routines signal safety for the nervous system

  “Daily rituals give safety to your nervous system. They anchor you.” [21:20]

B. Micro-moments of Solitude

• Short pauses: mindful breathing, quiet before gatherings, silent car rides, time outdoors

• "Micro-pauses" re-balance neural state; few people do them, but they’re simple and powerful.

  “Quiet is the medicine for an overstimulated brain.” [26:06]

C. Sensory Boundaries

• Lower the sensory load: dim lights, skip noisy events, limit social media, choose smaller groups, keep home calm.

  “I will have a calm home. Now at all costs.” [28:36]

D. Practice Presence, Not Performance

• Cultivate true presence over striving for perfection or people-pleasing.

• Focus on experience, not performance, especially in social and intimate situations.

  “Your brain doesn’t need, nor does it want, perfection. It wants presence.” [29:27]

E. Dr. Leigh’s Brain Hacks for the Holidays

• One hour daily without screens

• One sensory-soothing ritual (candle, warm tea, soft lighting)

• One meaningful conversation per week

• One act of generosity

• One intentional pause at every gathering

  “These micro adjustments will nurture those circuits that help you feel calm, connected, and fully alive.” [31:41]

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Modern Overwhelm:

  “The problem isn’t you. It’s a modern environmental hijack of your neurobiological system. Your brain was never designed for this level of intensity.” [33:38]

• On Rituals:

  “Healthy rhythms… If you have a compulsion or an addiction, or if you’re pulled towards explicit matter or pulled towards social media, that’s the routine that’s hijacked your brain.” [24:32]

• On Social Media:

  “Don’t believe every smiley face that you see on Instagram… You look and you say, ‘Oh, wow. Everybody else’s life is better than mine,’ and it gives you pain and rejection.” [15:22]

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-----------|------------------------------------| | 00:45 | Identifying holiday dopamine triggers | | 05:38 | Neurobiology of the dopamine hijack | | 06:47 | Impact on the prefrontal cortex | | 13:22 | Personal story: “Sushi incident” illustrates stress tolerance | | 14:53 | Social comparison’s effect on the brain | | 16:47 | Why scrolling feeds the hijack | | 17:13 | Dr. Leigh’s ritual for holiday regulation | | 18:46 | Slow vs. fast dopamine explained | | 21:20 | The power of daily rituals | | 24:32 | Compulsions and brain miswiring | | 26:06 | Micro-moments of solitude | | 28:36 | Sensory boundaries; calm home | | 29:27 | Presence vs. performance | | 31:41 | Simple brain hack strategies | | 33:38 | Final message on the true cause of holiday overwhelm |

Final Thoughts & Takeaways

Dr. Leigh’s central message:
Holiday overstimulation is a neurobiological phenomenon—your brain is not failing, but overloaded in an environment it was never designed for. The solution isn’t more stimulation, but intentional regulation: slow rhythms, presence, simple rituals, meaningful connection, and healthy boundaries.

“Instead of trying to do it all, give your brain what it actually wants and needs: slowness, presence, rhythm, connection. Your brain will thank you, my friend.” — Dr. Trish Leigh [34:36]

Next episode: Dr. Leigh will cover the neuroscience of the winter blues and how brain overload fits in.