☀️ my dopamine detox experiment

“I’m sorry I haven’t replied to that text thread yet, my brain was designed to look for berries and hide in a cave.”

I mentioned on social media my one-year radical experiment where I eliminated a bunch of stuff at once. And I called it my “dopamine detox”. Since then, I’ve gotten a lot of interest around that phrase, I figured I better go ahead and break it down.

First off, Let’s not take that phrase too literally. Dopamine is NOT a toxin and we don’t want to remove it from our body. 😆 Dopamine is extremely useful. We quite literally wouldn’t even bother to get out of bed without it and it would actually help early humans find berries. (Berries = dopamine = reward/pleasure = I’ll remember to come back to this berry bush.)

A “dopamine detox” is a catchy term describing taking an intentional break from some of our compulsive/addictive behaviors in order to give our baseline dopamine level a chance to recalibrate.

Compulsive/addictive behaviors are the kinds of activities that we tend to binge on autopilot. These activities dump a tremendous amount of dopamine (like WAY more than finding berries).

(Important note: This is a no-shame zone and this list is only an example of the kinds of behaviors that people get curious about taking break from. Trust your OWN intuition, not anyone else’s. Proceed with curiosity, not shame. Shame isn’t a strategy. Ok, as you were…)

Here are some common binge-causers:

Social media scrolling

Alcohol

Sugar/Refined Carbs

Streaming a TV series

Shopping

Codependency with a Special Person

Immersive Gaming

Pornography

& Even romance novels can become compulsive for some! (As was the case for the author of Dopamine Nation)

For my 1:1 clients, no two have been alike. It’s like we all have a perfect lil kryptonite match. For me, wine was the biggie, but tv shows, sugar, scrolling, and shopping would also “call to me” when I wanted to “numb out”.

And “numbing” is what tends to happen…in more ways than one...

The plot twist, it actually jacks with our baseline NORMAL LIFE dopamine experience which causes the normal little everyday joys to start to feel…well..numb.

So if we are chronically binge-ing these dopamine-dumping pleasures, we spend our ordinary time in an actual state of withdrawal.

Wait…a physical withdrawal from… Netflix?

I know, right?

Anyway, taking an intentional break can help bring all the levels back to normal. A “reset” if you will. 30 days seems to be the minimum timeline to be helpful, but for me, 90 days was when I started to feel like a completely different person.

(Re: Intense joy over the simplest pleasures. No more cognitive dissonance or mental gymnastics of “how much, how often, oh I slipped”, a sudden surge of creativity instead of low-key constant shame-loops.)

After the break, you can decide if you want to add back in the activity (with different boundaries perhaps) or if you want to leave that activity behind for good. (Like I chose to with alcohol. Once it was out of my system and I went through my “limiting-belief exercises”, I had no desire for it anymore, so I happily chose NOT to re-introduce. 300 days now of not-desiring it! Isn’t that wild?! I brainwashed myself or rather un-brainwashed myself? )

What do you think? Would you ever try a “dopamine detox?” If you do, I recommend just calling it an "experiment you're excited about", taking notes of how you feel, and keeping your thoughts in a place of a "happy, curious scientist" instead of "shame-filled self-judge."

If you try it, report back and tell me everything!

xoxo- Katie Day (write back soon!)

Helpful Resource:

Dopamine Nation by Dr. Anna Lembke: Pairs well with the experiment. This book is about pleasure. It’s also about pain. Most importantly, it’s about how to find the delicate balance between the two in our current dopamine-addicted culture.

Up Next:

I'm putting the final details in place for my group membership program starting in January. It's called "the Habit Lab" because we'll be experimenting with our new habit systems until they fit perrrrfectly. (As hot scientists, not judges.) It will be the no-shame goals-home for the happiest, most supportive people on the internet. I'm basically creating the "thing I wish I'd had". Hit reply if you want to join the waitlist. I'm giving the founding members an extra special gift!