Anna Lembke

Anna Lembke is an American psychiatrist who is Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic at Stanford University. She is a specialist in the opioid epidemic in the United States, and the author of Drug Dealer, MD, How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked, and Why It’s So Hard to Stop. Lembke appeared in the 2020 Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma.

Anna Lembke
Lembke speaks at Stanford University in 2019
Alma materYale University (BS)
Stanford University (MD)
Known forAddiction medicine
Scientific career
InstitutionsStanford University

Early life and education

Lembke was an undergraduate student at Yale University.[1] She moved to Stanford University for her medical degree, where she completed her residency in psychiatry. She was a medical intern at the Alameda County Highland Hospital, where she specialised in adult psychiatry and addiction.[1] She was board certified in 2003.[1]

Research and career

At Stanford University, Lembke runs a dual diagnosis clinic; which supports people with more than one addiction. These are typically patients who are depressed or anxious and also addicted to substances (drugs, alcohol) or processes (gambling, sex).[2] Their main treatment involves a four-week abstinence from the addictive behaviour, which she has shown is the minimum amount of time to reset their brain pathways.[2]

Lembke was one of the first physicians to speak openly about the opioid epidemic.[3][4] She wrote the popular science book, Drug Dealer, MD, which resulted in Lembke travelling the United States and delivering expert testimony to legislators.[5] She delivered a TED talk on the opioid epidemic and pain management at TEDx Stanford.[6]

Alongside drugs and alcohol, Lembke has studied smartphone and technology addiction.[2] Smartphones are not only addictive themselves; but exacerbate the problems of other substance/process addictions, increasing access and social contagion.[2] Lembke appeared in the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, explaining that "social media is a drug", which exploits the brain's evolutionary need for interpersonal connection.[7] Not only did Lembke appear in the film, but her children did too, and together they identified that most people significantly underestimate their screen time.[8]

Select publications
  • "Drug Dealer, MD | Johns Hopkins University Press Books". jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  • Lembke, Anna (2012-10-25). "Why Doctors Prescribe Opioids to Known Opioid Abusers". New England Journal of Medicine. 367 (17): 1580–1581. doi:10.1056/NEJMp1208498. ISSN 0028-4793. PMID 23094719.
  • Lembke, Anna; Papac, Jennifer; Humphreys, Keith (2018-02-22). "Our Other Prescription Drug Problem". The New England Journal of Medicine. 378 (8): 693–695. doi:10.1056/NEJMp1715050. ISSN 1533-4406. PMID 29466163.

References
  1. "Anna Lembke's Profile | Stanford Profiles". profiles.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  2. "Q&A: Anna Lembke on smartphone technology addiction". The Stanford Daily. 2018-02-22. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  3. "Anna Lembke on Treating Opioid Addiction". www.psychotherapy.net. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  4. "The Xanax Epidemic with Anna Lembke M.D." Straight Talk MD. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  5. "Anna Lembke". stanfordhealthcare.org. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  6. "Anna Lembke | TEDx Stanford". tedx.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  7. Girish, Devika (2020-09-09). "'The Social Dilemma' Review: Unplug and Run". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  8. "Reclaim your screen time". The Social Dilemma. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
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