Dopamine fasting is abstaining from impulsive and behavioral addictions to reset to a healthier lifestyle. Commonly targeted behaviors include smartphone and social media use, emotional eating, internet or gaming, gambling or shopping, and pornography or masturbation.
This concept is a form of detox that was first developed by California psychologist Dr. Cameron Sepah as a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Dr. Peter Grinspoon describes Sepah’s work as ‘sensible, if not necessarily new or groundbreaking,’ and criticizes those who have adopted ‘ever more extreme, ascetic, and unhealthy’ versions of it. Grinspoon says that the intended goal for individuals fasting is to not completely eliminate such addictive behaviors but to learn how to maintain their impulsive behavior towards a healthy lifestyle.
Dr. Cameron Sepah has stressed that there have been misinterpretations of what the true value of this type of detox is and how it is supposed to work. Critics say that the overall concept of dopamine fasting is unscientific.
While the practice is not clearly defined as it varies widely between individuals regarding factors such as what should be abstained and how frequently or long an individual should abstain from the action, in general, it focuses on reducing anything that is unhealthy and addictive. Some proponents limit the process to avoiding online technology; others extend it to abstaining from all work, exercise, physical contact and unnecessary conversation.
According to Sepah, the purpose is not to literally reduce dopamine in the body but rather to reduce impulsive behaviors that are rewarded with it. One account suggests that the practice is about avoiding cues, such as hearing the ring of a smartphone, that can trigger impulsive behaviors, like remaining on the smartphone after the call to play a game. In one sense, dopamine fasting is a reaction to technology firms that have engineered their services to keep people hooked. It can encourage engagement in less stimulating activities such as reading, crafting, or outdoor sports.
An extreme form of dopamine fasting would be complete sensory deprivation, where all external stimuli are removed to promote a sense of calm and wellbeing.
The effects of an overload of one activity can cause our brains’ natural dopamine to cause unbalancedness and negative effects on our body and mental health. Proponents of dopamine fasting argue that it is a way to exert greater self-control and self-discipline over one’s life. However, it has also been described as a fad and a craze associated with Silicon Valley. An account in ‘Vice’ said, ‘If the idea of abstaining from anything fun in order to increase your mental clarity is appealing, congratulations: You and the notorious biohackers in Silicon Valley are on the same wave.’
A study was conducted in adults (ages 30–45) and the relationships between digital screen time, video gaming, and impulsive behavior. Some key findings were that the association between more screen time use was linked to high impulsivity, particularly in situation of urgency. Gambling is also a highly addictive activity that feeds off a dopamine rush, and online sports betting has been a huge influence for addicted gamblers to resist.
Critics say that the overall concept of dopamine fasting is unscientific since the chemical plays a vital role in everyday life; literally reducing it would not be good for a person, and removing a particular stimulus like social media would not reduce the levels of dopamine in the body, only the stimulation of it. Ciara McCabe, Associate Professor in Neuroscience at the University of Reading, considers the idea that the brain could be “reset” by avoiding dopamine triggers for a short time to be ‘nonsense.’ Sepah agrees that the name is misleading and says that its purpose is not to literally reduce dopamine in the body but rather to reduce the impulsive behaviors that are rewarded by it.
Besides impulsive behavior control, which is regulated by the prefrontal cortex, it has never been conclusively proven that technology use hardens the brain to dopamine’s effects. Technology use induces a dopamine response on par with any normal, enjoyable experience: roughly a 50% to 100% increase. By contrast, heroin, cocaine and amphetamine — three highly addictive drugs — can cause dopamine spikes ranging as high as 300%, 350%, and 1,365% respectively. In addition, dopamine receptors themselves — the cells in the brain activated in different ways by dopamine’s release — respond differently to technology use than they do to substance abuse, with no evidence that they become less sensitive to dopamine with repeated exposure, in the way they do with substance abuse.
In the final analysis, it is wrong to assume that avoiding ‘dopamine spikes’ may upregulate dopamine receptors, causing an ‘increase in motivation or pleasure.’ Conversely, freeing oneself from bad habits may free up time for healthier habits, like physical activity, leading to actual increases in gray matter volume on multiple brain parts related to the reward system.
The Daily Omnivore 
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