Dopamine Detox

Ping. A momentary nebula glows in the midnight dark, eclipsing the light of the stars that filter into my room. Ping. Waking up, I sleepily reach for my phone, the fluoresce blinding me temporarily as I check my messages. As the night fades and the morning rolls around, my phone lights up and I rush to check it− Ping − and notice a list of notifications lining my screen. With every ping, text, and notification, I automatically reach for my phone, repeatedly looking throughout the day and night as if I’ve been programmed to. With the dawn of modern technology−the internet and social media, in particular−the world of information now at our fingertips allows us to be informed on a diverse range of topics and to be connected with others in our lives. But what happens when our world increasingly revolves around this small screen of notifications? When an adrenaline rush spikes through us at the number of texts on our screen or likes on our post, how do we prevent this conditioned behavior of reaching for our phones from being reinforced? 

This increasing interdependence on technology in our lives has given rise to a new trend called the “Dopamine Detox,” recently repopularized by clinical psychiatrist and professor at the University of California, San Francisco, Dr. Cameron Sepah (Grinspoon, 2020). Dopamine detox, or dopamine fasting, is a practice based on cognitive behavioral therapy, in which the therapist attempts to reduce the unhealthy behaviors integrated into one’s life by limiting the amount of unhealthy stimuli− the notifications, the likes−that one is exposed to (Grinspoon, 2020). The reinforcement of such unhealthy behaviors involves a neurotransmitter called dopamine, a molecule that mediates the reward circuit (Grinspoon, 2020). When an individual engages in an enjoyable activity, such as checking a post and being rewarded with a climbing number of likes, dopamine is released from the nucleus accumbens (NA), a brain structure involved in the reward circuit, onto the ventral tegmental area (VTA), which promotes the motivation to repeat that behavior in the future (The Pleasure Centres Affected by Drugs, n.d.). Because of these pleasure-inducing pings, which produce short-lived thrills within us, the dopamine detox is intended to break this pattern and ‘reset’ the circuits to prevent the addictive bombardment from being reinforced. It also serves to rejuvenate or redirect our minds to healthier behaviors, away from compulsive behaviors that are destructive to our happiness, such as emotional eating, excessive internet usage and gaming, or thrill-seeking (Grinspoon, 2020). 

Another reason for engaging in a dopamine detox is for the joy derived from these activities, which can purportedly be experienced in a more vivid, immersive manner after the detox (Grinspoon, 2020). The intention is to temporarily deplete dopamine release from our brains after a “tolerance break”, and when these activities are reintroduced, a greater surge of pleasure can then refresh the individual (Grinspoon, 2020). During a dopamine detox, an individual abstains from all behaviors that they normally enjoy, such as using social media, listening to music, eating delicious food, or even interacting with others, until their brains are “reset” to find joy in simpler things (Grohol, 2019). However, it’s unclear how many days of “active fasting” are required to “de-stimulate” the brain and complete the detox (Grohol, 2019). 

So, is there a method to the madness? Science says no. Firstly, dopamine is a naturally-occurring neurotransmitter in our bodies, so fasting from it is not likely to increase or decrease its concentration (Grinspoon, 2020). While dopamine is increased in its release to pleasurable behavior, it doesn’t actually decrease when abstaining from rewarding, over-stimulating activities (Grinspoon, 2020). Because many neurotransmitters are synthesized from precursor amino acids obtained from the diet, these amino acids must compete with the already-present, larger, more neutral amino acids to cross the blood brain barrier (Grinspoon, 2020). An individual would then have to eat or deprive themselves of a great amount of that food in order to increase or decrease a particular neurotransmitter’s biosynthesis, Professor Kim Hellemans, a neuroscience researcher at Carleton University in Canada, says (Grohol, 2019). Because dopamine is always synthesized and ready for release from synaptic vesicles, even if the neuron is not stimulated to fire, the dopamine will still be there, therefore their concentrations are not affected significantly (Grohol, 2019). The dynamic nature of dopamine receptors also complicates dopamine signaling within the nervous system, negating the idea of a detox (Grohol, 2019).

Secondly, dopamine’s role in the reward circuit is much more complex than just being a rewarding neurotransmitter: it’s also involved in eating behaviors and stress responses, released when “an organism needs to ‘pay attention’ and learn about signals in the environment that are motivationally relevant,” as Dr. Hellemans notes (Grohol 2019). Similarly, dopamine is one of many intertwined components in the reward system: the prefrontal cortex, involved in planning and motivation, and the structures of the limbic system, such as the amygdala, which ‘colors’ our experiences with emotions, and the hippocampus, involved in memory, associate memories and their context with a certain behavior, and are all modulated by dopamine (The Pleasure Centres Affected by Drugs, n.d.). Additionally, studies in rats have found that the olfactory bulb, subregions of the cortex, the hypothalamus, midbrain, and hindbrain in self-stimulation are involved in reward circuitry, suggesting that reward is the result of a dynamic system of interactions between neurons localized in multiple brain regions (Ikemoto, 2010). 

Depriving the body of dopamine can also result in Parkinson’s disease through the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta; intentionally depriving oneself of dopamine as is attempted in the detox could then lead to Parkinsonian-like symptoms (Grohol, 2019). The impact of the dopamine detox is also difficult to quantify since dopamine measurements are hard to pinpoint and very invasive to do: it requires gauging the presence of metabolites, products of neurotransmitter breakdown, in the cerebrospinal fluid (Grohol, 2019). Most of the research on dopamine has also been done on animal models, and minimal-to-no research has been conducted to test the implications of the detox (Grohol, 2019). 

At its essence, the dopamine detox is promising: its idea of having a concrete procedure to resist temptation, such as actively choosing to walk past the dessert table, is an effective start (Akers, 2019). However, the dopamine detox itself can be detrimental, especially because it involves the extremes of encouraging maladaptive behaviors and avoiding human contact, stressors that are encoded as a threat to the nervous system (Grohol, 2019). While wellness blogs and holistic gurus may promote the wonders of the detox, scientists and researchers, however, say that the detox is simply not that effective: instead, it’s more effective to pause and reflect before actively choosing to engage in something else other than reaching for the phone (Akers, 2019).

While it’s not as flashy as the name “dopamine detox”, mindfulness is what this trend is aimed at (Grinspoon, 2020). To practice mindfulness, engage in hobbies, go for a walk, spend time with family, and have fun! Supplanting healthy behaviors for unhealthy ones, such as spending time painting a sunset instead of taking a photo of a sunset for social media, can improve happiness and prevent unwanted behavior (Grinspoon, 2020). If the unwanted behavior becomes an addiction, a psychotherapist-led cognitive behavioral therapy session or a visit to a licensed psychiatrist is a much more productive option than a self-administered dopamine detox.

Ever since I noticed my compulsive phone-reaching, I’ve tried to spend less time on the internet and more time outside in the brightly-colored autumn day. After the day ends, instead of checking my phone with its flash of light, I look through my window shades and wonder whether it’s Venus or the North Star glimmering tonight before I turn off my phone and go to sleep.

Image from: https://thetinylife.com/dopamine-detox-fix-your-brain-and-survive-modern-life-with-a-dopamine-fast/

References

Akers, W. (2019, November 20). Is Dopamine Fasting a Way to Fix Your Brain or Just a Fad? Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health-news/what-is-dopamine-fasting. 

Grinspoon, P. (2020, February 26). Dopamine fasting: Misunderstanding science spawns a maladaptive trend. Harvard Health Publishing. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/dopamine-fasting-misunderstanding-science-spawns-a-maladaptive-fad-2020022618917.

Grohol, J.M. (2019, November 11). Dopamine Fasting Probably Doesn’t Work, Try This

Instead. PsychCentral.  https://psychcentral.com/blog/dopamine-fasting-probably-doesnt-work-try-this-instead/. 

Ikemoto, S. (2010). Brain reward circuitry beyond the mesolimbic dopamine system: A

neurobiological theory. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, 35(2), 129–150. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2010.02.001. 

The Pleasure Centres Affected by Drugs. (n.d.). The Brain from Top to Bottom. 

https://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/i/i_03/i_03_cr/i_03_cr_par/i_03_cr_par.html.