Dopamine Detox: Ditch These Habits to Keep Your Brain Happy
Last Updated on May 15, 2024
Did you know your habits and the choices you make play a huuuge role in your dopamine production? And when your dopamine production is out of wack or being influenced by too many of the wrong things, your mental health can suffer. Let’s dive into what I mean.
What is Dopamine All About Anyway?
Dopamine is essentially your brain’s reward center. It’s a naturally occurring neurotransmitter in your brain, but it also flows based off the things you do. It’s that little “heck yeah!” feeling you get when you accomplish a task or do something pleasurable, like after a bite of your favorite food.
Dopamine also plays a big role in your motivation. You need something to keep you coming back for more, doing things that give you that sweet sweet dopamine hit, right? Without dopamine, you’d never feel motivated to do the things you need to do, nor the things you want to do!
It’s also an essential part in regulating your mood. Having adequate dopamine will prevent feelings of depression, for example.
People with ADHD, who struggle with too little dopamine, find great help from stimulants because they provide the dopamine that’s missing! This can really ease the unfocused and impulsive tendencies of ADHD.
So, yup, having the right amount of dopamine is a must for your mental health!
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BUT…Dopamine Has a Dark Side
If there’s any chemical in the brain we have to keep a close eye on, it’s dopamine. When left imbalanced, it can wreak havoc on your mental health, habits, and routines. This is where things start to get bad.
Too little dopamine, and you struggle with depression, lack of motivation, and poor impulse control.
Too much dopamine, on the other hand, can be a serious problem. This is where addiction has the potential to creep in. If you get into the habit of chasing highs and choosing activities or substances that give you a huge dopamine rush, this is where dopamine gets dangerous.
This is why it’s so important to feed our brains the right amount of dopamine as well as the right type of dopamine. When crushing a workout and binge eating both give us a dopamine rush, there’s a clear test of choice that can make or break our habits and in turn, our mental health.
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The Choice Is Yours: Cheap vs. Rich Dopamine Habits
We’re overwhelmed with many choices. All day every day. Some of which require an active decision, while others we tend to do on auto-pilot without any thought (think: scrolling for hours on Tiktok without meaning to).
I break this down into something I like to call “cheap” (toxic, not so good for you) dopamine habits and “rich” (helpful, good for you) dopamine habits.
See more where this came from by following my Instagram here!
This list goes to show that not all dopamine is created equal! There are plenty of things that make us feel amazing in the moment, but aren’t helping us in the right ways.
This is why we have to give more intentional thought to our habits. We must make an effort to choose from the “good for you” list more than the “toxic” list. Basically, think of it as a dopamine detox!
You know how icky you feel after spending half the morning scrolling, scrolling, scrolling? So why do you keep doing it? Well, it’s because you are getting something out of it. There is some type of reward at play. Having access to video after video is an easy stream of new, exciting, stimulating gratification.
But you don’t like the way you feel after, when you look back on what you did today. Now, how differently would you feel if instead you went on a nature walk? You might reflect on your day feeling fulfilled, happy, and in alignment with how you really want to spend your time.
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How to Regulate Your Dopamine
The formula to regulate your dopamine comes down to this: practicing mindfulness and choosing your daily activities with intention. It’s choosing the delayed gratification task. The “harder” task. The task that aligns with what you value and what contributes to your overall life satisfaction.
A great way to assess your current habits is to do what I call a habit audit.
Doing a Habit Audit
Sit down with a blank piece of paper. Draw a line down the middle. On the left, you’ll title this half “my cheap dopamine habits.” On the right, “my rich dopamine habits.” Much like the graphic you saw.
Basically, think of ALL the habits you do. Going for walks, how many cups of coffee you drink, keeping a planner, watching TV until midnight, etc. Sort them into the proper categories.
Then, ask yourself: what actions will I take to do less of the activities that bring me cheap dopamine, and more that bring me rich dopamine? Some people might need to write these down as reminders on sticky notes in a place they see everyday. Some people might time block a dedicated time for a good habit like journaling or a 15 min walk.
However you choose to take action, just make sure it’s taken somehow. If this helps you, you can make it a quarterly task to sit down and do a habit audit to check in with yourself and get those habits back in order!
All in all, choose your method of dopamine wisely. Give more thought to your choices. Start small and replace one bad habit with a good one that you feel truly happy about. It takes practice, but before you know it, your body and mind will find the perfect groove of balance.
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