Dopamine fasting: Why you can’t and shouldn’t try to eliminate the key brain chemical

You only have to take a quick look at social media to see that the dopamine fasting trend — popularized a few years ago — is still going strong.

The underlying idea is to reduce dependence on instant gratification and overstimulation, in order to achieve mental clarity, reduce anxiety and embrace the ability to enjoy everyday life. To achieve this, people resort to so-called “detox programs” that encompass a wide range of behaviors: from promoting healthy habits — such as exercising, or avoiding excessive screen time — to more extreme disconnection options, such as strict diets or total isolation, moving away from any stimulation or social contact.

But is there any science — or truth — behind these practices?

While some of the proposed behaviors are positive — such as exercising and eating healthy — scientists have long warned that these trends can confuse and distort complex concepts. They emphasize that you cannot fast from a natural chemical that’s necessary for the brain.

The viral hype surrounding the term “dopamine fasting” — coined by psychologist Cameron Sepah in 2019 — led to a huge misunderstanding that persists today.

Sepah himself attempted to contextualize the reflection he made at the time: “We’re not fasting from dopamine itself, but from impulsive behaviors reinforced by it.”

But the public has taken the concept and run with it, often to absurd extremes — such as influencers posting videos on social media recommending that people use social media less. In some cases, it has even led to health risks.

Recent research has delved into the role of dopamine in the brain and concluded that these practices are “simplistic” strategies to combat societal overstimulation. The experts consulted by EL PAÍS also emphasize that it’s impossible to know how (and how much) our dopamine levels fluctuate in the brain. In any case, they point out that the levels of a chemical with essential functions for life cannot — and should not — be reduced to zero.

Sepah presented dopaminergic fasting as “an antidote to the overstimulation” of our era. He identified six categories of impulsive behaviors that are commonly problematic and prone to addiction: emotional eating, browsing the internet, gambling and shopping, pornography use and masturbation, the constant search for excitement and novelty, as well as drug use.

But he didn’t propose — by any means — a radical abstinence from all of this. However, the drift of this concept has sometimes led to people adopting extreme versions of dopaminergic fasting, to the point of not eating, not listening to music, or not socializing. Precisely, all behaviors that can lead to serious physical and mental health problems.

The original proposal had little to do with fasting or dopamine. This is explained by physician Peter Grinspoon, in an article published by Harvard University: “What Sepah intended with his dopamine fast was a method, based on cognitive behavioral therapy, by which we can become less dominated by the unhealthy stimuli — the texts, the notifications, the beeps, the rings — that accompany living in a modern, technology-centric society. Instead of automatically responding to these reward-inducing cues — which provide us with an immediate but short-lived charge — we ought to allow our brains to take breaks and reset from this potentially addictive bombardment.”

Grinspoon points out that we should give ourselves space to feel lonely or bored, or to find pleasure in simpler activities, in order to regain control and avoid compulsive behaviors that interfere with our happiness.

Curbing impulsive behavior

Sepah himself pointed out that he only proposed avoiding behaviors that one finds problematic. He was by no means advocating that people stop talking, exercising or socializing — quite the opposite. But what has emerged is an amalgamation of interpretations tailored to the tastes of influencers and social media users.

Pablo Villoslada, the head of Neurology at Hospital del Mar in Barcelona, admits that the level of hyperstimulation in society has increased. “But the brain is capable of dealing with it,” he says, at least, in the short-term. And he reminds us that, biologically, “it would be terrible to eliminate dopamine.”

“A lack of dopamine is seen in Parkinson’s disease. The neurons that produce this neurotransmitter die and all of the systems [related to it] stop functioning properly,” he warns. Villoslada explains that extreme behaviors — such as total isolation — are also not beneficial. “One of the main risk factors for Alzheimer’s is social isolation.”

Morgado, for his part, points out that we can’t control everything that happens in the brain. “We don’t release neurotransmitters at will. We know that there are circumstances — like everything that is novel — that produce motivation and pleasure. If social media engages us, it’s because it continually provides us with novelty. And that triggers dopamine,“ he explains.

“But it’s not just this,” he continues. “The capacity to release dopamine varies constantly. The brain is an interactive organ and it’s regulated by external signals, but you can’t control it 100%.” The neuroscientist also emphasizes that we cannot even confirm everything that dopamine is able to trigger in the brain.

A recent study published in Current Biology delved into the complexity of this spark of motivation and how it operates in the brain, revealing that dopamine signals in different brain regions rise and fall in intricate patterns as animals learn to avoid danger.

“Dopamine is a crucial molecule for movement and everyday decision-making, so detoxing from it would likely do more harm than good,” explains Gabriela López, the article’s author and a researcher at Northwestern University. ”Abstaining from certain behaviors or substances does not eliminate dopamine from the brain.”

The scientist argues that “while adopting some behavioral strategies described as part of a detox may be beneficial, dopamine is actually important for helping us adopt and maintain new healthy patterns.”

She returns to her study to illustrate the point: “We showed that dopamine release in a brain region [the ventromedial shell of the nucleus accumbens] can even increase as we learn the cues that signal we should flee from something dangerous. You definitely don’t want to get rid of that signal!”

Morgado criticizes the manipulation of neuroscience concepts to seek solutions to complex situations or behaviors. “I’m tired of telling people that no one knows how much adrenaline they have in their body. And it’s the same thing with dopamine: you don’t know what you have. The term ‘neuro’ is being abused, making you believe that, if you know more about the brain, you’ll be able to control behavior,” he says.

Faced with social overstimulation — which is the underlying problem that a dopamine detox program seeks to resolve — Villoslada appeals to “common sense.”

“It’s all about lowering the level of hyperstimulation. On social media, for example, it’s about becoming aware of the situation and [knowing] that we have to be the ones in control. It’s about returning to a slower pace of life and recovering what’s important for human beings, which is connecting with others again. Isolating yourself is terrible, being hyperconnected is also bad. We have to find a middle ground,” he asserts.

And one last warning from Morgado, regarding the use — and abuse — of neuroscientific terms at will: “Neuroscience is not a cure-all.”

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