TJ Power is an esteemed neuroscientist, international speaker, and co-founder of Neurify, an organisation at the forefront of the mental health sector providing accessible and scientifically-backed teachings to enhance the management of mental health.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
This February, take control of your mental health with our Non-Fiction Book of the Month: “The Dose Effect” by TJ Power.
Feeling stuck in a low mood, lacking energy, or struggling to focus? Neuroscientist TJ Power unpacks the power of your brain’s neurochemicals—Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphins—and shows how to optimize them for a happier, healthier you.
Accessible, empowering, and packed with practical strategies, this book is your guide to unlocking a balanced, thriving life.
In today’s blog, we sit down with TJ to discuss his journey as an author and neuroscientist, what books have inspired him lately, and the huge social movement that is The Dose Effect.
Stay tuned for an exclusive Q&A!
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I’m a neuroscientist and the author of The Dose Effect. I spent the last 10 years researching and studying the four primary brain chemicals – dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins. I run a research lab called Dose Lab and what actually led me into this whole place is difficulty with my own mental health and different addictions in my life.
2. What inspired you to write The DOSE Effect?
From the moment I was 13 or 14 years old I used things like social media or alcohol or pornography to give me something that we call quick dopamine. I found these things really addictive. I spent 10 years hooked on all this quick dopamine. Even something like online shopping is something I started getting addicted to as well. I spent about 10 years getting really addicted to these different behaviours and then came to really understand our brain chemistry and discovered there was such a simple answer to the pain I was experiencing.
I started to experience a lot of low mood depressive symptoms.
I felt quite anxious in my brain. I overthought a lot. I was quite stressed. My body just didn’t feel like it was calm. I was struggling to feel motivated for my work and different aspects of my life. And I took myself through a process of trying to boost these four brain chemicals with different daily actions. The speed that I saw change in my life literally blew my mind. Then I began turning this into a live experience that I’ve now shared with over 80,000 people around the world. And that led me to the point of then writing this whole concept into The Dose Effect.
3. What is the simplest or most effective ‘hack’ you could recommend for someone who struggles with low mood?
The simplest, most effective hack in The Dose Effect for someone that struggles with low mood is 100% learning to not go on your phone as soon as you wake up in the morning. I know this is a really hard thing to do, but with the thousands of people that have been through DOSE, 100% the thing that creates momentum for change in someone’s life is not having quick dopamine the moment they wake and instead earning their dopamine through going and brushing their teeth, making their bed, having their shower, doing a meditation, whatever it may be, for at least five minutes in the morning. You don’t want to be going onto the phone.
4. What was the most fascinating piece of research that you’ve included in The DOSE Effect?
The most fascinating piece of research that was included in The Dose Effect is by this scientist called Seltzer who looked into oxytocin and the relationship that we have with technology. Oxytocin is this chemical that creates feelings of love and connection within us.
They found that when two humans are texting, as many of us do these days, oxytocin doesn’t release in our brain, meaning we don’t actually get the stimulation of the key hormone that creates love and connection. As soon as those two people call one another, oxytocin immediately begins to release.
That basically means we need to hear people’s voices in order to feel the emotion of love. So don’t always text people, FaceTime them, and then of course, meet up with them in person as much as you can.
5. What was the most challenging part of the book writing process?
I would say getting myself to concentrate and actually write the book was pretty difficult. I really struggled for my whole life with my attention span and I thought that was just who I was. I came to discover that that was actually because I was suffering with low dopamine levels. When we have low dopamine levels it’s very hard to get our brain to focus on a task. When I set the goal of writing this book, I worked extremely hard to get my dopamine levels boosted in the morning so that I had high dopamine in my brain so that when I sat down to write I could concentrate. The first few months it was definitely challenging to achieve that goal.
6. Do you and your loved ones follow The DOSE Effect methods every day?
I would say that they do. I definitely do. I really live by this life. I’m not just sharing these ideas for the fun of it. I literally need The DOSE Effect methods in order to have a good time in my mind. Now it’s become a very natural and almost easy part of my day-to-day life, which is what we often hear when people read this book. My loved ones definitely do as well.
I have a beautiful girlfriend who’s actually from Australia. We met on Instagram. I was in London and she is from Sydney. Part of the reason I fell in love with her by looking at her Instagram was because I could see that she was already doing some of The DOSE Effect methods. Me and her live a great dose lifestyle together, and then many people around me, my friends, my mum and dad, my family are also very interested in doing these things as well.
7. Where do you hope to take the DOSE Effect next?
I want dose to become the biggest movement in the world that improves the health of our society. That’s of course a big statement but judging by how things have gone in the last few years, I actually really believe that could be true. I think The DOSE Effect can provide such a clear answer to the pain that society is facing in our relationships, our motivation, our attention spans, our mood, our addictions. I really believe that if humanity can begin to live The DOSE Effect lifestyle, we will be a thriving species.
8. What other books have you read and enjoyed lately?
Recently I’ve been reading a book about a Japanese philosophy that’s called The Courage to Be Disliked, which is a really fascinating concept by this psychologist called Alfred Adler. It talks about stepping into who you are as a person and making sure you really contribute to our world. I think that’s been a beautiful book to read. I’ve also been reading a book called Mindfulness for Life by Dr. Willem Kuyken that’s really been teaching me about slowing down. I do have a tendency to try and live my life very quickly, and I found mindfulness to be a key practice that’s been calming my system.
Thank you to Harper Collins Australia for this fascinating Q&A with the inspirational TJ Power!
You can keep up-to-date with TJ and The Dose Effect movement on his socials here:
