Dopamine

Dopamine is not a simple stimulant but is integrated with inhibiting systems, acting as an activator that feeds back into neural inhibition, and its function is best understood through its antagonistic relationship with serotonin. 2 Peat argued that the entire mechanistic theory of what L-dopa and dopamine are doing in conditions like Parkinson's disease is mistaken, noting that the balance between serotonin and dopamine is central to the pathology. 3 Serotonin increases CRH and prolactin, while dopamine tends to inhibit them, and factors like nitric oxide, endotoxin, and serotonin all shift the body toward stress. 3 Progesterone and its brain derivatives like allopregnanolone are important for keeping this balance directed toward dopamine, while estrogen increases serotonin. 2

The dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia, which claims the condition is caused by excessive dopamine, has been described by Georgi Dinkov as a fraudulent foundation of psychiatry. 8 He points to evidence that carcinoid tumors producing large amounts of serotonin cause psychotic symptoms identical to schizophrenia, and that effective antipsychotic drugs like haloperidol are actually potent serotonin antagonists. 8 A newer drug, brilaroxazine, which is a dopamine agonist and serotonin antagonist, has shown effectiveness in Phase III trials, further undermining the dopamine excess theory. 8 Dinkov has also written that dopamine is crucial for good vision, and that insufficient bright light exposure on the retina leads to inadequate dopamine production, driving the modern myopia epidemic. 10

Rather than being a primary driver, dopamine is more accurately a sign of things going well metabolically. 9 Dinkov notes that the enzymes tryptophan hydroxylase and tyrosine hydroxylase compete for vitamin B6, and that iron overload inhibits tyrosine hydroxylase while enabling tryptophan hydroxylase, making sufficient dopamine a symptom of proper energy balance. 9 Peat cautioned against trying to directly push the dopamine system, as this tends to increase oxidative damage; instead, he recommended correcting the underlying stress state safely with pregnenolone, progesterone, or testosterone, while keeping toxic fats down and blood sugar stable. 5 The euphoria of a high metabolic rate, characterized by adequate carbon dioxide and glucose oxidation, is described as a 24-hour background feeling that life feels good, an experience Peat likened to the feeling that "thyroid is love." 2

Behaviorally, dopamine enables a person not only to see rewards but to take action to move toward them, and its lack is implicated in addiction and learned helplessness. 3 Peat suggested that overcoming learned helplessness involves behavioral novelty—going to new places, meeting new people, and doing things you have never done before—while simultaneously working to correct suppressed energy processes and ensure good thyroid function. 3 Dinkov has extended this to sexual function, explaining that dopamine rises when metabolism works well and sexual contact is perceived as a pleasant challenge rather than a burden, a state maintained into extreme old age in populations with unsuppressed hormonal balance. 7 The serotonin to dopamine ratio in specific brain areas is considered critical, and androgens like dihydrotestosterone are known to suppress serotonin synthesis directly by inhibiting tryptophan hydroxylase. 9