Dopamine detox: searching for joy in the mundane Why would anyone want to do that?
Denying ourselves any stimulating or pleasurable activities is claimed to ‘reset’ the chemicals in our brains, helping us regain focus and wellbeing. Some doctors are not convinced.
Dopamine
detoxing has gained traction in Silicon Valley’s tech community, known for its repertoire of sometimes bizarre health and wellness regimes
– ice baths, liquid-only diets and injecting oneself with the blood of a younger person, to name just a few.
What is a dopamine detox? The popularised version involves intermittently fasting from all habitual, stimulating and pleasurable activities for a set period of time. In its most extreme form, followers stop eating, exercising, having sex, masturbating and usng any digital devices for several days. Some dopamine detox proponents have gone as far as abstaining from physical contact, conversing or making eye contact with other people.
The idea behind a dopamine detox is to “reset your brain” by depriving yourself of all sensory stimulation so that mundane tasks become more enjoyable once the fast is over; time-consuming habits are curbed and motivation levels are bolstered.
Dozens of YouTube productivity gurus have latched on to the trend. Nathaniel Drew, Niklas Christl and Andrew Kirby, to name a few, have all affirmed their approval of the detox regime.
When you consider the amount of information that we have to process in a technology-centric 21st century, it’s not surprising that so many people are eager to “reset their brains”. The digital revolution has brought the knowledge economy to our fingertips, making information accessible that – 30 to 40 years ago – could only have been retrieved by going to a library and sifting through hundreds of pages of an encyclopaedia.
So, what’s the trade-off?
Our attention has become a sought-after commodity in a competitive market, free for the taking by whichever corporation’s online presence successfully captures our interest. A torrent of phone notifications alerting us to breaking news, social media updates or a new online-dating match has given rise to a plight of information fatigue or overload.
Information overload is linked to decreased productivity in the workplace, decreased levels of happiness and diminished creativity. Corporate losses resulting from information fatigue amount to an estimated $650-million globally – so there’s a strong business case for corporations allowing and encouraging employees to switch off their devices when they’re not in the office.
Digital devices are purposefully designed to keep you hooked by releasing dopamine when you interact with them, reinforcing your internal rewards system. That’s why every time you hear a notification come through, or feel buzzing in your pocket, you’re compelled to check your phone. In her book How To Break Up With Your Phone, journalist Catherine Price describes the psychological concept of “phantom vibrations” – a unique feature of the digital era that occurs when a person thinks that they’ve felt their cellphones vibrating, but check their phones to find no notifications.
Daniel Kruger, associate professor at the University of Michigan, says phantom vibrations may indicate a cellphone dependency and more than 80% of college students surveyed in their study had experienced them.
The science behind it
Despite numerous people attesting to its plethora of benefits, emerging research suggests that the idea of a dopamine detox is a product of pseudoscientific pop psychology.
Moreover, engaging in an extreme dopamine detox regime – that is, abstaining from
Dopamine detoxing was created as an evidence-backed technique, grounded in cognitive behavioural therapy, to help people unlearn the conditioned behaviours that negatively affect their lives
eating, eye contact and conversation – is likely to detrimentally affect psychological wellbeing.
There is, doctors say, a misconception about how dopamine works in our bodies.
Harvard Health’s Dr
Peter Grinspoon writes:
“Dopamine is one of the body’s neurotransmitters and is involved in our body’s system for reward, motivation, learning and pleasure.
“While dopamine does rise in response to rewards or pleasurable activities, it doesn’t … decrease when you avoid overstimulating activities, so a dopamine ‘fast’ doesn’t actually lower your dopamine levels”.
Simply put, sitting in your room and staring at a wall all day, denying yourself engagement in any stimulating activities, will not mean that you’ll wake up the next day with a newfound passion for doing your taxes.
Dopamine is naturally produced by the human brain – with or without an external stimulus. We do not have absolute control over the chemistry of our brains; thus, “detoxing” from dopamine is not possible.
That being said, there may still be a role for dopamine detoxes to play in resetting your brain when done correctly.
Dr Cameron Sepah, the Californian psychologist who first conceptualised the idea of a dopamine detox, explains that the term is not supposed to be taken literally. He says the regime’s proposed practices have been taken out of context and distorted by influencers, internet users and the media.
In an article on his refined version of the regime, dubbed Dopamine Fasting 2.0, Sepah explains that dopamine detoxing was originally created as an evidence-backed technique, grounded in cognitive behavioural therapy methods, to help people unlearn the conditioned behaviours that negatively affect their lives. This includes activities such as the use of digital devices, viewing of pornography, drug use, emotional eating or gambling.
He explains that the regime does this by restricting these behaviours “to specific periods of time, and practicing fasting from impulsively engaging in them, in order to regain behavioural flexibility”.
So, while a correctly carried out so-called dopamine fast might not revive your interest in mundane activities, it may help you to overcome addictions and curb bad habits.
This will allow you to make more time for healthy and productive behaviours which, in turn, may increase your motivation and productivity levels and decrease your levels of stress.
Is it right for you?
Start by identifying which of your own behaviours are problematic. For example, occasionally binge eating, watching porn or playing videos are not necessarily bad habits (although some may be stigmatised).
Sepah, however, explains that when the behaviour is addictive, impairs your day-to-day ability to function, and causes distress, a dopamine detox or alternative psychological intervention should be considered.
Performing a dopamine detox
When the problematic behaviour is linked to an external stimulus (such as watching pornography or binge eating), the dopamine detox regime entails implementing “stimulus control techniques”.
First, distance yourself from the stimulus or make it harder to access. If you’re trying to overcome digital addiction, for example, put your phone away or download an app that restricts cellphone activity for set periods of time.
Additionally, do an activity that is incompatible with the behaviour, Sepah advises. You can’t play soccer and a video game at the same time, for example.
Problematic patterns of behaviour can also be curbed by exposing oneself to the stimuli internally and resisting reaction (this type of technique may be useful if you struggle with negative and incessant thought patterns).
Start by trying to become aware of the thought or impulse when it crops up. Allow yourself to feel the urge to perform the impulsive behaviour or give in to the negative thought – but do not allow yourself to give in.
Letting the thought pass shows your brain that you are not a slave to your impulses. Return to what you are doing and refrain from judging yourself for feeling, or even giving in to the urge.
Unlearning the learned responses reinforced by dopamine is a difficult process, it takes practice and patience.