Dopamine Fasting, the new trend in Silicon Valley
Undoubtedly we all live in a world of abundance, where we can get almost everything with a click of a button – delivered almost instantly to our home.
With all this abundance – are we necessarily happier? Not necessarily…
With all the convenience of modern society, our technology, and our quick fixes – we don’t experience any higher levels of happiness, satisfaction or wellbeing compared to our grandparents (and some studies have suggested we have gone backwards).
One recent trend that is emerging in Silicon Valley (and elsewhere in western societies) is temporarily disconnecting from the incessant and compulsive behaviours that try to make us feel instantly “good”. This has been referred to as Dopamine Fasting…
Dopamine is a very useful molecule to help us increase energy, motivation, and purpose. It motivates reward-seeking behaviour (e.g., getting off the couch to make a delicious dinner, getting ready to go out and see friends) that often triggers feelings of pleasure, satisfaction, and accomplishment.
Whenever you engage in an activity that raises dopamine (e.g. exercise, sugar, caffeine, sex) you experience a sharp spike in dopamine followed by a crash in dopamine sometime later (below the baseline of dopamine that you had before engaging in that activity, see graph below). There are notable exceptions, however, such as ice baths that buck this trend – which results in an increase in dopamine levels without the crash. But for most activities that increase dopamine - a crash is inevitable.
If you engage in that same activity again whilst you are in a crash, you may temporarily spike dopamine – but your levels plummet further (even below where you were before during crash number 1). Therefore, it is not a good idea to "binge" on a dopamine source repeatedly – for it will lead you to burnout and feel terrible (e.g. low mood, lack of motivation and energy, reduced pleasure and enjoyment in life).
Not all sources of dopamine are the same, however. The best sources require sufficient effort to produce a significant surge in dopamine that also doesn’t result in a sharp or long crash. We will lump these into the “clean” camp.
Whilst other “problematic” sources can provide an instant hit of dopamine, with little effort, most often resulting in a sharper and longer crash. This sharper and longer crash often results in people engaging in the same or similar problematic behaviours, which further reduces their dopamine levels (with the 2nd or subsequent crash). These problematic sources of dopamine often result in compulsive and addictive behaviours, and ultimately increase stress, frustration, anxiety, and eventually burnout.
Examples of “Clean” sources of dopamine include:
Exercise and stretching
Ice-cold baths or swimming
Intermittent fasting
Meditation or prayer
Walking or hiking in nature
Examples of “Problematic” sources of dopamine include:
Pleasure or emotional eating
Compulsive social media use
Continuously checking work or personal emails
Excessively binging on “news”
Gaming
Porn or masturbation
Recreational drug use
“Dopamine fasting” does not necessarily mean stopping all activities that induce dopamine, rather, it refers to temporarily pausing on all activities in the “problematic” dopamine camp.
It may look like switching off from all devices 1 day a week, going into nature, and engaging in a long walk. Or switch off all devices at 8 pm, and allow the next 1-2 hours to read a book, engage in breathwork or meditation practice, and take time to wind down.
By allowing our dopamine levels to recover, and not compulsively engaging in activities that burn us out (e.g. checking our phone continuously, excessive screen use), we can experience a significant rise in wellbeing, life satisfaction, and time to do the things that really matter (what is most important to us). We can slowly begin to free ourselves from the compulsive tendencies and behaviours that do not deliver what they promise – feeling satisfied and fulfilled.
As a personal experiment – try and identify which “problematic” dopamine activity is least satisfying to you and try and replace it with “clean” dopamine activity. Try this for a week, and see if you notice a difference.
