can dopamine fasts improve your mental health?
detoxification diets continue to be a popular way to attempt to rid the body of harmful toxins. but does the same thing happen with a dopamine detox?
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detoxification diets continue to be a popular way to attempt to rid the body of harmful toxins. it typically starts with a period of fasting followed by a strict diet and the results can range from weight loss to renewed energy.
but does the same thing happen with a dopamine detox?
the idea behind the fast is to abstain from the things that provide pleasure — like music, sugar, social media and sex, just to name a few — and allow your happiness baseline to reset.
the goal is to allow yourself to “feel more” in this fast-paced, tech-oriented world that offers so much stuff that one can seemingly never be bored.
but david h. rosmarin, a clinical psychologist and associate professor at harvard medical school, wants to clarify that there’s no such thing as a dopamine fast, per se.
“dopamine is a neurotransmitter and it’s associated with reward,” rosmarin told the toronto sun.
“but the neurotransmitter that’s in your body, you can’t not take it; it’s not like a supplement, it’s not something you don’t get or don’t have. so you’re not fasting from dopamine, you’re taking a break from technology, as an example, because of its impact on your neural and behavioural health.”
rosmarin explained what the concept of a dopamine fast implies.
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“there are real neurochemical effects of being excessively involved in technology or other pleasurable activities, rewarding activities,” which he called a “positive process” — but added that people “need to be aware that brain health is going to be affected by the fast.”
now, if it’s something that brings a person joy, be it social media, food, drinks, sex, why would they want to cut it out of their lives?
“it’s really a matter of control,” he said. “fasting can help reset. if people are eating too much, there is such a thing called food restriction which most nutritionists will recommend.
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“if people are engaging in excessive sexual activity, whether it’s pornographic or consensual partners, that’s something that a mental-health professional might encourage them to limit or to potentially block out for a period of time if their behaviour is excessive to the point where the person doesn’t have control over it.”
but for some, it can be a bad thing.
“there are disadvantages from taking a break from digital technology, food, drinks, sex and other pleasurable activities,” he detailed.
“i have patients who are depressed, they don’t have a sex drive and for them taking a break is disadvantageous.”
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but a reset, in the long run, for most people can be good.
“it builds resilience when people don’t have that immediate gratification, so to speak, at their fingertips. learning to live with discomfort is actually a very good thing.”
a detox of those pleasurable activities can get a person out of that discomfort and allow them to face difficulties and stress moving forward.
“resilience, strength, relationships, self-confidence, these are the building blocks of 2022年世界杯名单猜测,” rosmarin said. “it’s something we’re not practising nearly enough.
“more resilience, ironically, means less anxious — but we have to voluntarily and intentionally move towards that discomfort.”
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