A lot of us have bad habits and addictions that we’d love to kiss goodbye, such as spending too much time on social media or overeating when we’re stressed out. Yet, knowing where to start can be overwhelming. Luckily, the science of dopamine and how it affects our daily routines can give us a great jumping-off point to shift from addiction to healthy habits.
Dopamine is a kind of chemical known as a neurotransmitter. Neurotransmitters are the brain’s “messengers”, and they transfer information needed for biological and mental processing.
Habits that we enjoy can trigger the release of dopamine, which works in the brain to provide pleasure, motivation, and satisfaction. We eventually start craving this dopamine spike that comes with our enjoyable habits.
What’s more, over time dopamine not only spikes higher than normal during pleasurable events — like engaging in a bad habit — but also drops lower than normal after we get that fix. This can lead to an even stronger craving the next time, which can make it difficult to stop our bad habits even when we consciously know we should.
Unlike conventional detoxification, a dopamine “detox” isn’t about removing the chemical from the body altogether since it’s a natural part of us.
Instead, detoxing from a dopamine craving involves deciding to stop your bad habit and engage in healthier activities that can also provide you with some pleasure.
This can help rebalance your dopamine levels so that your cravings for a delicious piece of pie or social media interactions start to subside.
Here are some strategies to help counteract your cravings from the National Institute of Health:
• Any act of self-control that you practice regularly helps, even if it’s as simple as sitting up straighter in your chair every time a craving hits or keeping a regular food diary.
• Finding everyday activities that you used to enjoy, and starting to add those back into your day, can help as well. You can also add new, healthier experiences to your daily routines.
• Another strategy is avoiding physical locations that trigger the bad habit. For example, some people who are trying to break an alcohol habit stop going to bars with friends, while other people who emotionally eat only open the fridge at specified mealtimes.
• Breathing exercises may also be beneficial, especially breathing through your nose. This is because nose breathing sends nitric oxide throughout the body. Nitric oxide helps with the release of dopamine.
