# @andrespreschel on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DYftBeqRt90
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/65682612-andrespreschel-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/307945982a.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-05-18T21:39:42.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Andrés Preschel, BSc, MSc(c) | Health & Performance Coach (@andrespreschel) — https://gondola.cc/andrespreschel

## Caption

Most people come to social media looking for motivation, but what they find instead is a neurological trap 👇🏽

Here’s the mechanism: When you watch self-help content, your nucleus accumbens releases dopamine which makes it feel like progress, even though you haven’t done anything yet.

When you don’t follow through, your lateral habenula punishes you with a negative signal that drives you right back to the app for more relief, AKA more doomscrolling. 

Meanwhile. the high dopamine states from scrolling are actively suppressing your prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain responsible for executing long-term goals.

Your insula, which processes the internal discomfort that motivates real change, gets chronically numbed. Now, you stop feeling the tension that was supposed to drive you forward.

The only structure that builds genuine willpower is the anterior mid-cingulate cortex. It grows through effort, through doing hard things when you don’t want to. It doesn’t grow through content consumption… 

This is why self-help content on social media isn’t neutral. It hijacks the exact biological signals your body uses to push you toward change, and replaces them with a dopamine loop that keeps you scrolling.

The intention to grow is real, but social media  platforms are designed to redirect it.

So if you’re truly seeking greatness, get off the app.

The more you #KnowYourPhysiology…

## Stats

- **Views:** 1,797
- **Likes:** 0
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- **Comments:** 15

## Tags

knowyourphysiology

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