How To Dopamine Detox - 02

Hacking happiness

Your brain is like a city filled with buildings called neurons. These buildings must communicate for you to move, feel, and think. They send messages to each other with chemical substances known as neurotransmitters, which then travel from neuron to neuron, making you feel, know, or do something. Dopamine is one of these neurotransmitters.

Dopamine is not solely responsible for pleasure; its release in response to an event does not necessarily mean it is enjoyable. On the contrary, feeling empty immediately after the reward is common.

Action: Rediscover offline joys, like nature walks, journaling, and art.

Humans seek the stimulation of dopamine through engaging with the world and mistakenly think that this arousal of senses will lead to fulfillment. Remember that day you spent lying in bed, watching Netflix with chocolate crumbs all over the blanket? At times like this, you feel like the world stops, and you need a rest from constantly performing. But how did you feel afterward?

Action: Find balanced, healthy ways to achieve happiness.

Sometimes, being human is tough; you want to hit pause and hide under a warm blanket. We all know these moments, and let’s give them a round of applause for keeping us alive and rested. But constantly escaping reality due to fleeting satisfactions will not fulfill you. It will not make you feel love, connection, belonging, or a sense of purpose. So, take care of yourself by being attentive to your deeper aspirations and desires.

What satisfies you? How does it make you feel? You lose control and focus by pursuing these things for a quick dopamine release. Then, you trade your dreams or time with your loved ones for time-wasting activities like social media. It's a slippery slope of distraction.

Dopamine is an essential element in your evolutionary backpack — whenever you do something beneficial for your survival, it pushes you to repeat it. But society has created new ways to trigger dopamine, and not all of them contribute to our well-being. So, remind all these new dopamine-stimulating inventions who is in command! Don’t miss out on embodying what you value most.