Dopamine fasting: Does it work?

The videos and notifications that keep us tuned into our smartphones might offer us bursts of enjoyment, but over time, they can leave us unhappy and bored.

Whether it’s your phone, gambling, binging on sweets or another behavior you’re hooked on, you can reset your brain so that your happiness doesn’t depend on instant gratification.

What is dopamine?

Dopamine, a chemical in your brain that sends messages among nerve cells, affects your attention, motivation and movement. It’s released when you experience something you enjoy, such as smelling a bouquet of flowers, listening to an enjoyable song, eating fudge or watching a video that makes you laugh.

Any activity that can produce dopamine can become addicting, including:

• Social media
• Binge eating
• Sex
• Sweets
• Video games
• Drugs
• Alcohol
• Gambling

You can wear out your pleasure response

If you’re frequently experiencing short bursts of dopamine throughout the day, by binging on sweets, for example, or by watching videos on TikTok or Instagram, you can overstimulate yourself.

After several weeks or months, your brain’s pathways can become less sensitive to dopamine. What gave you instant gratification in the past no longer does.

What happens when your dopamine is low

When you’re low on dopamine, you can experience:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Mood swings
• Trouble with attention
• An increase in impulsivity and high-risk behaviors
• Substance use

What is dopamine fasting?

To feel better, try resetting your dopamine levels. Sometimes it’s called a “dopamine fast,” but you’re not actually giving up dopamine. Your body will always produce dopamine, but you can make your nerve cells more sensitive to reacting to dopamine.

You can achieve this by doing less of the behavior that was bringing you frequent dopamine hits — for example, reducing the number of sweets you eat or the number of hours you’re tuned into your phone or how much you spend on gambling.

Try some more fulfilling activities, such as exercise, meditation, yoga, a walk or a hobby you enjoy. Each activity can trigger dopamine as well, but in a more consistent way, rather than in bursts followed by steep drops.

Cutting back on dopamine spikes can be tough

It can be difficult giving up the instant gratification that eating or gambling or being on social media offered you. I warn my patients that it won’t be easy, but they can do it. I’ve seen many be successful at cutting down on the habit that had troubled them and replacing it with a healthier habit they enjoy. And their mood improves.

You might think that by cutting back on the behaviors that offered you instant gratification, you’ll reduce the amount of dopamine in your body. You won’t reduce the overall amount of the chemical. You’re just eliminating the overstimulation of dopamine, and with it, the peaks that were brief and often followed by the crashes.

What is the fastest way to reset dopamine?

How long it takes to reset your dopamine varies. It can take a while to form new brain pathways — sometimes up to 90 days, which is how long it typically takes to adopt a new habit.

While you’re doing the dopamine reset, make sure you get seven to nine hours of sleep a night, eat a balanced diet and exercise regularly. All of that can help you feel better quicker.

Conditions that lead to low dopamine

Some physical and mental health conditions can cause you to have less dopamine than people who don’t have that condition.

• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Depression
• Substance use disorders
• Parkinson’s disease

A dopamine reset means cutting back, not cutting out

When you try a dopamine reset, you don’t have to avoid everything that’s enjoyable. I wouldn’t recommend that. That might leave you feeling depressed. Instead, if you’re hooked on social media, it might be easier to take longer breaks from it rather than taking away social media completely.

Even with doing a dopamine reset, moderation is important. Cutting out everything that brings you pleasure might work for some people, but others could feel worse.

Instead, small changes, made consistently, can help you feel more energetic, hopeful and less reactive.