Perhaps you had an important duty to fulfill at your place of work but succumbed to the beckon of the internet’s endless collection of distractions. You may want to work on your summer body, but repeatedly opt for readily available takeaway meals over time-consuming home-cooked ones. An arousal of your dopamine (the feel-good neurotransmitter) is at play here and makes you want to experience a rewarding feeling now instead of later.
However, instant access to this feeling may pose more harm than good. A dopamine detox highlights the benefits of delayed satisfaction to reinforce your motivation and keep you from falling prey to tempting activities.
Prescribing a dopamine detox to a society that maximizes pleasure
We live in a world that seeks out pleasure habitually. Sex, shopping, scrolling on social media, indulging in freshly baked bread, or anything that gives you a rewarding feeling releases dopamine (our feel-good neurotransmitter). Dopamine acts as your cheerleader and compels you to focus, be productive, and achieve your goals. The prize for enduring and seeing your actions through is a feeling of motivation, satisfaction, and pleasure. Only, a culture of instant gratification seems to be depleting our dopamine supply too easily and frequently.
A dopamine detox may support long-term satisfaction and be the remedy to stopping our dam of motivation from drying up.
What is a dopamine detox?
Overstimulating the reward system in our brains fuels our craving for short-term gratification but dismisses our long-term goals. A “dopamine detox” (a trend that involves doing the rounds on social media) involves refraining from activities that elicit immediate pleasure and, well, dopamine. This “reward fast” can range anywhere from a couple of hours to months.
The goal is to decrease your need for short-term rewards that may leave you feeling regretful in the future. Limiting your access to your pleasure chemical may produce delayed satisfaction and better self-regulation.
The pursuit of immediate pleasure means spending from our dopamine bank. Overstimulating, or overspending, our brain’s dopamine supply appeals to our short-term whims but fails to consider the long-term influence.
Essentially, we lose our free will to a dopamine-hungry program. A dopamine detox endeavors to aid you in resisting the temptations of feeling instantly satisfied. Understanding what drives you to seek out pleasure triggers will help you reclaim the reins on the reward pathway in your brain.
Delayed satisfaction is better than instant gratification
According to research from Princeton University, our brains comprise two parts: one is linked to our emotions, while the other deals with reasoning and logic. The emotional brain feels most inclined to entertain immediate desires because they are more pleasurable and instantly fulfill us.
When faced with the decision to scroll on social media now and complete your work task later, this part of your brain will urge you to choose to fall a rabbit hole on Instagram. Your logical brain will reason as to why it will be of greater benefit to complete your task first; you will face less stress and enjoy a good night’s rest. Ultimately, a constant psychological jousting transpires between the emotion- and logic-driven parts of your brain.
Research suggests that impulsive choices are made when the emotional brain prevails over the logical one. A dopamine detox may position the logical part in the driver’s seat, improve self-control, and reset your brain for lasting success. This delayed satisfaction prioritizes your future success and well-being.
“Our emotional brain has a hard time imagining the future, even though our logical brain clearly sees the future consequences of our current actions. [It] wants to max out the credit card, order dessert, and smoke a cigarette. The logical [part] knows we should save for retirement, go for a jog, and quit smoking,” explained David Laibson, professor of Economics at Harvard University.
How to do a dopamine detox
A dopamine detox aims to weaken our constant dependence on dopamine-maximizing behavior. It can add more meaning to our actions beyond just our motivation to experience pleasure. It is important to analyze the catalyst(s) of your dopamine release and whether it is conducive to your long-term health and happiness.
- Think about the pleasure-producing stimuli in and around your space. These can look like the behaviors or activities (that you engage in frequently) that are addictive and quickly elevate you. Your pleasure triggers could be scrolling on social media, watching TV mindlessly, or eating sugar. Put your pleasure triggers through a process of elimination after identifying them. What will you significantly reduce or avoid entirely?
- Decide on the duration of the detox. Will you do it for an hour, a day, a week, or longer?
- Establish healthier things you can do that will benefit you in the long run to replace those quick boosts.
- Draw up a list of things that you have been avoiding and need to catch up on.
Dopamine detox cheat sheet
What are you going to avoid/limit and for how long?
- Social media (no phone within the first hour of waking and the last hour before sleeping).
- Binge-watching TV shows (watch only over weekends and one episode at a time).
- Caffeine (no more than one cup of coffee per day).
What are healthy replacements?
- Going for a long walk.
- Working out.
- Drinking herbal tea.
- Spending time outdoors.
- Journaling.
- Meditating.
- Watching a documentary.
- Listening to an enlightening podcast.
How long will you do the dopamine detox for?
One month.
What are some things you have been avoiding?
- Chores.
- Personal development.
- Meal-prepping.
- Re-organizing the house.
- Meeting deadlines.
In conclusion
A break from immediate pleasure-inducing activities can help your brain recalibrate its dopamine supply. Fleeting pleasure tempts us with instant satisfaction but leaves us feeling worse in the long run.
A dopamine detox may be worth experimenting with to reinforce delayed satisfaction and improve our motivation and productivity. In the end, we will feel happier because it may help identify what creates longer-lasting fulfillment.
