DOPAMINE DETOXES AND THE DEATH OF COMMUNITY
BY OLIVIA LEGGANS ILLUSTRATION BY CASSIDY WOODS
The rat race of performance productivity is a taxing zone to occupy. Even if it’s not adopted by everyone, extreme examples of morning routines, study habits, and dopamine detoxes are observable everywhere. Some delete social media or convert their phone to grayscale. Others bow down to Dr. Andrew Huberman, a neuroscientist and podcast host with over six million YouTube subscribers, and hang on to his every word regarding life optimization tips. Not to discredit Huberman, for he is skilled at disseminating neurobiology concepts to the public, yet to point out the mass interest and frenzies that productivity culture attracts.
Dopamine detoxes, in particular, were popularized in August 2019 by Dr. Cameron Sepah, a clinical psychologist and Harvard and UCLA graduate. Sepah advocated for balanced and controlled exposure to stimuli, such as incessant social media notifications, emotional eating, and compulsive gambling.
Considering Sepah’s clients are typically Silicon Valley executives, he geared his research toward high-performing individuals. Sepah pushed the need for breaks and boundaries concerning desires — not necessarily a revolutionary idea. The doctor clearly stated that dopamine detoxes neither reduce dopamine production, nor should participants avoid all pleasure and socialization.
Despite this, the dopamine detox trend snowballed. Once the public got a hold of the concept, dopamine detoxes morphed into an extremist, pleasure-void lifestyle void of scientific backing. The goal was to restrict all forms of pleasure, including food, sex, phone usage, music, work, and endless other activities.
Participants intended to reset how or to what extent one’s brain experiences pleasure. Their logic determined dopamine to be toxic and a hindrance to genuine balanced pleasure in their lives. Some locked their phone away for weeks and skipped meals, while others ignored friends in the street, for fear that a conversation may produce dopamine.
Dopamine detoxes are not only scientifically illogical, but the overarching ideology stresses the weak and warped definitions of happiness and productivity in the United States. Understanding how those outside of neuroscience fields often misunderstand dopamine is vital to identifying the logical and social pitfalls of dopamine detoxes.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter responsible for how we process rewards. Dopamine is a naturally occurring chemical in the brain. This means a detox of dopamine, or any naturally existing brain chemical, is an impossible and pointless pursuit. A mass purge of social experiences, eating, and exercising does not decrease dopamine levels. Dopamine recognizes patterns to repeat previously identified forms of pleasure gain, yet dopamine alone does not produce pleasure itself.
Nonetheless, news outlets and productivity podcasters casually use “dopamine” when talking about “pleasure addiction.” Many imply that modern humans seek out too much dopamine and label it as “toxic” or “addictive.” Dopamine is necessary for human existence yet is villainized in the pursuit of impermeable productivity.
Even if neuroscience research supported dopamine detoxes, the concept of a “detox” connotes an aggressive, immediate removal of toxins, while also being a temporary, quick fix. Rather than reprioritizing healthy habits and long-term connections, dopamine detoxes focus on removing negative and positive experiences, creating an emotionally blank slate to let productivity thrive.
The concept of dopamine detoxes teeters on the belief that weeding out all pleasure promotes balanced desires and in turn increases energy and time channeled into productive behaviors. This suggests that efficiency should be a principal life goal. This model says that one must be productive to win and win to be happy.
It is easy to say that success and happiness do not go hand in hand, but do we truly buy into this belief? High achievers are rewarded and encouraged in education systems, business connections, and economic statuses. The United States’ current system of rewards surrounding performance and productivity should result in high performers achieving high happiness rates. Annual research shows, however, that countries which orient their societies around economic success and performance do not lead to stable mental well-being.
What if the U.S. positioned human connection at the height of the success hierarchy? Many may write this off as a naive and simplistic approach, yet with more than one in five adults struggling with some sort of mental illness, a happiness metric reevaluation is necessary.
Dopamine detoxes, productivity culture, and performance-based systems would fade into the background if the U.S. mirrored community-rich countries like Denmark and Finland (and the social programs and resources their governments implement). By cultivating collective contentment rather than individual success, career and efficiency goals fall lower on lists of priorities, without sacrificing personal happiness and well-being.
