Outsmarting Dopamine
The dopamine our brain releases from eating sugar and being on electronics, has a similar effect as drugs. So how can we be thoughtful enough about it to shape our own habits and lives despite this neurotransmitter?
Dopamine is a chemical that gets released in our brain and ultimately helps us survive. It ensures we want to eat more food, drink more water, and strive for a safe environment. In this way the chemical shapes our behavior and what we spend our time seeking. So if processed/ sugary foods and screen time can also shape our behavior, how much control do we have over it?
Thoughts about dopamine are changing in recent research. Experts now believe that it doesn’t actually make you feel happy, but instead makes you want things. An increase in dopamine makes you pay particular attention to what you are doing and makes you want to continue doing it. However, you might not even like what you are doing! You might not even really want to continue doing it or feel happy from it (i.e., scrolling endlessly on your phone).
Fast paced and bright images causes spikes in dopamine continuously as you are watching something, which makes shutting an app or turning off screen time very difficult. The brain thinks something important is happening and since dopamine is connected to survival, your brain is convinced that you should continue watching in order to LIVE! Trying to use logic to convince this ancient part of your brain to do something different is near impossible. So instead, structure and planning ahead are key in changing this battle.
New research is also indicating that dopamine has a short half-life, so although the surges and spikes are intense, they also fade quickly. So giving your brain 5 minutes and keeping the item literally out of sight is a key hack here. If you can see the item or food, your dopamine will try to outsmart you and give you a little surge in order to try and shape your behavior. Try setting a timer and leaving the room, giving yourself time to reconsider after the time has passed. You might be surprised in how different you feel.
Take time to consider whether you actually feel better after the activity. If you feel good, there is a great indication that the dopamine isn’t tricking you. However, if you feel worse or a compulsion to engage without even feeling good, there may be a trick happening there. Take note of these activities or items. Limiting frequency and duration of those things that do not bring us joy, but we still want to do, is key to a well rounded healthy existence that we are ultimately happy with.
Experiment: try picking one day to go entirely without the item or electronic in mind. See if there are any changes in cravings, in the activities you do actually engage in, how you feel. Sometimes it can be pretty surprising how the craving will go away when there is a hiatus planned ahead of time.
Doc Hotz