Low dopamine social media reddit (All of these things contribute towards dopamine synthesis) I would also suggest avoiding things that provide instant gratification such as spending a lot of time on social media and the infinite scroll or porn. your dopamine receptors are almost certainly downregulated. I love solving "problems/puzzles"; it's a key part of my ADHD, gives me a huge dopamine rush. The problem with dopamine is that it gets us hooked on things that give us short-term gratification but not much else: cookies, alcohol and social media are all high in dopamine. This applies to all things that stimulates too much dopamine. You need to bring your dopamine levels back to normal, so that you won't crave it as much. Rather than try to increase your dopamine, you should have periods of abstinence in which you allow your reward system to return to baseline. Dishes piled up. Hold button for 10 sec = level up = dopamine hit. Like someone else said, go the opposite direction and embrace at least 2 weeks of low dopamine. Force yourself to do 30 minutes of whatever you consider to be your hardest task for the day. I have a tiktok, reddit, twitter, and instagram account. There's a bunch of stuff that comes up from "dopamine scrolling" but I would take all of it with a grain of salt and consider who's writing it and whether they're trying to sell you something. And for those people it really can help. Social Media and Dopamine: When you use social media your brain releases dopamine. Not just porn though. This is the mort important tip I can give you. I just interviewed Andrew Huberman on why you shouldn't rely on stimulants (like nicotine) when lacking motivation, the dangers of spiking dopamine without effort, his workout & supplement routines, using NSDR to boost dopamine, and how he handles social media backlash. per my phone statistics, i spend approx 16 hours on these social media apps 🙂 it's gotten to the point where i could be listening to a youtube video on my laptop while simultaneously scrolling through my tiktok feed. Dopamine is largely responsible for motivation, desire, and cravings. I take 600mg three times per day, spaced out by 8 hours. Low dopamine means social media will make a low dopamine issue even worse. **Substitute with Positive Digital Content**: Replace some social media time with educational content (but be careful that it's not just edutainment) For me like if social media is that distracting to you and you're spending 10 hours a day on your phone, and it's starting to affect your grades and your mental health then that's a problem. My dopamine tolerance over time changed that I started enjoying doing things that were “low dopamine inducing” because they were more fun than doing nothing. When I was researching about dopamine detox the fact was that I was not a dopamine junky that needed social media or video games. One day I stumbled across a YouTube clip regarding dopamine detoxing by Andrew Kirby (the creator and only mod of this reddit). I was so tired my brain was not working well enough to leting me know I was so tired. Social media takes reading to the next level by also having you rehydrate social experiences without another actual human being present. ): All of a sudden, studying, exercising, and doing things I usually consider a pain in the ass, become much more appealing to me, and I actually become somewhat interested in them. The stimulation from social media/internet can create gnarly dopamine deficit states. I set aside time at work to work on problems which may yield "interesting" results. That dose of ALCAR all at once is very high. THAT WILL NOT WORK. See the Required Reading for more. Hello brother, i would suggest you read the book Dopamine nation or watch andrew huberman podcast with anna liembke, this is quite common, there's sort of a bell curve where your cravings will worsen but then they'll plateau and lower out, this 17-21 should be the last of it, usually after 3 to 4 weeks, your body behaves normally and sometimes it takes longer but after 4 weeks you'll be where Contrast this with an activity such as reading. I’ve pretty much completely quit most social media-I allow myself 5 minutes of Instagram a day on my laptop, and moderate it using the “Stayfocusd” extension and adhere to it very strictly. Point to at least 8hs of sleep. This is completely different from the other apps that just suck your brain away. The problem is that social media platforms are designing apps to stimulate the viewer, and the only way that continent gets views, algorithmically speaking is if they make a very stimulating piece of content, but not all content is stimulating, that something can be good, and not stimulating in terms of attention, span or high dopamine fixation People are absolutely addicted to using their phones all day, every day, doing nothing but mindless browsing of social media, reddit, youtube, and other easy-access dopamine fixes. People who are addicted to video games, social media or internet pornography experience the same thing. I suggest you listen to the audiobooks “dopamine nation”and “your brain on porn. Try a lower dose. Triggered by perceived or actual scrutiny from others. Members Online Would you be interested in a social media feed aggregator? The #1 social media platform for MCAT advice. If Reddit is the social media you use, it sounds like you enjoy reading. So like another commenter here suggested - get the bloodwork. Even smaller stimuli compounded over time can reduce our dopamine levels in the long-term: compulsively checking the news or social media (including Reddit or Youtube) presents us with an endless stream of potentially intriguing content, and spikes our dopamine levels with each new thumbnail or heading. Over-reliance on such rewards can desensitize one's response to them, meaning they might seek them more often but enjoy them less. Nothing makes me feel much except for vaping, social media, gaming, etc. My sleep schedule was a disaster. This where you shut of from external sources of dopamine / behaviours like social media by setting time slot in the day to when you can do them. /r/MCAT is a place for MCAT practice, questions, discussion, advice, social networking, news, study tips and more. Never cleaning my apartment. Jan 9, 2025 · Right now, if you have indulged for a long time on doom scrolling, unhealthy food, social media, video gaming, etc. I just read something about how in reading viewpoints that mirror our own (such as on social media posts), we get a hit of dopamine. It’s a part of your brain’s reward system, meaning it helps you feel good when you do something enjoyable. Limit yourself to only a few hours of screen time a day, only if you do your homework, it's imperative that someone holds you accountable to be productive If you have low dopamine levels, you're more likely to get stuck in instant-dopamine tasks (such as the unnatural ones above - endlessly scrolling social media, binging tv shows, gaming) and struggle on any task/activity that doesn't have that instant reward. Dopamine levels increase slowly but remain for a longer period of time. If you are interested in meditation perhaps reading philosophy and religion might interest you; if you like social media perhaps memoirs, creative non-fiction, or social science topics, something to connect you to others' ideas. I started Reading more and working more productively since I was so bored that I found no other option but to find ways to make work more enjoyable No social media. First, I don't remember the last time I lost myself in an activity and forgot about time, even when it came to highly-pleasurable activities such as gaming, watching TV-shows or movies and scrolling social media feeds. We want to be replacing addictive activities with these easy low stimulus activities that will give us slight amounts of dopamine. Your brain will recover, but you have to drag yourself through the psychological mud of boredom first. This is where production comes in. It was very similar, but still ended up using reddit a very minimal amount. Hell yeah there is something to this. e. Also note secondary to the effects of low dopamine; High Prolactin will independently induce feelings of apathy and lethargy. Physical symptoms may include: blushing, excess sweating, trembling, palpitations, and nausea, stammering, along, rapid speech, panic attacks. the stakes aren’t the same Top reasons for my ADHD brain being stuck on social media: Dopamine-seeking (solution: shop from my “healthy dopamine list” for something that catches my attention and hyperfocus on that instead of my phone) Burrowing to avoid difficult emotions (solution: find a safe place/person to express and process the emotions) Low baseline dopamine reduces your motivation to do anything. And since our brains naturally want more of what makes us feel good (not just once but over and over again), we often find ourselves stuck at things that we don’t Understanding Dopamine: Dopamine is a chemical in your brain that plays a big role in feelings of pleasure and happiness. I found out it does not affect my dopamine levels as much as i thought, but I have less self control, so I have to focus more on low dopamine activities Day 2. Once their dopamine tolerance gets too high, they simply aren't able to enjoy low dopamine behaviors. I'm not trying to discredit / invalidate what you're saying, but I think it will be healthy for you to try to develop a new habit every morning. Satisfaction. ” Sounds like a dopamine detox would greatly help you! I also read that you can only resist for about 2-3 days. -After an extended period of time goes by being deprived of my usual gluttonous meal of cheap dopamine (social media, porn, video games, etc. On apps like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, you can literally doomscroll for hours on end until you feel your dopamine receptors have finally had enough. Here are some dopamine friendly options: Music Reading My understanding is to refrain from what I have categorized as "filler activities" so like if I'm away from home it'll be low effort mobile games or browsing social media. Which begs the question: Is there anything that can be done to prevent this? The answer is you need to perform a dopamine detox. So what's left? Really passive, low-effort things like scrolling on social media give you a little reward, but more importantly, they don't ask much of you either. Concentrating on an activity is challenging, but not impossible. Try to limit the amount of “cheap” dopamine you get in the first half of the day. 1. Just look at how social media is designed. I took a step back and realized that I have a severe social media addiction. Short-term payoff activities with low stimulus. If it runs too fast, you get low dopamine levels. The MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) is offered by the AAMC and is a required exam for admission to medical schools in the USA and Canada. My understanding is to refrain from what I have categorized as "filler activities" so like if I'm away from home it'll be low effort mobile games or browsing social media. i'm resetting my habits and reducing dopamine overload. THis helps reset your dopamine levels back to normal, and will make you more sensitive to new forms of dopamine. At the beginning of 2023 I got off of social media for 9 months. Low dopamine social media. We need to stop the fast reward loop, then engage in a healthy fast reward loop then gradually move up to medium and progressively longer reward loops, which is what Porn stimulates so much dopamine that your body reduces ghe number of dopamine receptors to adapt. View community ranking In the Top 5% of largest communities on Reddit. If SSRIs raise prolactin, then it is because the high serotonin levels are preventing the release of dopamine to combat prolactin levels, therefore the existence of elevated dopamine levels is not causing low dopamine, it is caused by low dopamine. Welcome to Dopamine Detoxing, by Andrew Kirby. If you don't anticipate studying, or eating health, or whatever long term goal you have of leading to rewards, literally FEELING THE DOPAMINE associated with those Doing nothing is boring, and leads to less dopamine. Start with a Dopamine Detox, then maintain a Dopamine Fast. 2 clicks = funny picture = dopamine hit. There is two parts to this. Hang in there, it will get better. My best advice would be to get rid of your social media completely. This is the core mechanism of addiction. If I'm home that's looking at my most recent steam games and seeing what of those I want to play at the time. The author calls these activities high-quality leisure while calling digital distractions such as social media and absent-minded bingeing low-quality leisure. This is why caffeine and other dopamine releasing agents can cause a comedown if used in excess. Ok, you have some newer age problems then. Video games and social media gets us used to the high reward low effort dopamine cycle. ive had enough and am ready to reclaim control of my time and stop squandering over three hours each day on distractions. Production & release. Your addiction isn't to your phone, it's to the dopamine. I guess another interpretation could be the impact of social media (designed to induce a dopamine response) but long-term leading to low mood and feelings of low self-worth (low serotonin). You scroll down. You can’t replace internet porn with low stimulus activities but you can replace addictive habits like scrolling reddit/social media/tv with some of these. I will be having a few amazing days of enjoying my hobbies and engaging with my interests and then think to myself, "Wow! I've fixed myself! I can redownload social media; it will be different this time!" Plot twist Google "Dopamine Transfer Deficit ADHD" and make sure you understand the difference between dopamine as a reward, and dopamine as a motivator associated with an anticipated reward. So we really felt like It's due to the continuous usage of social media like Instagram and TikTok due to the dopamine hit for every short video. The dopamine is already malfunctioning and does not simply readjust just because we get low dopamine. it doesn’t happen just because social media is so awesome, it can be but it’s the intention of the companies to sell our attention for money/profit. Well, I want to add on that, unlike most social media platforms, Reddit seems to cater to (support) individuality, vs Instagram, which demonizes a post that isn’t “agorythimically” profitable. I took 30mg again but broken down into 2 doses for a lower dopamine peak. Maybe look into dopamine detox. This is a support group to help with impulsive behaviour towards Eating, Gaming, Gambling, Thrill, and Tech. You got this. That Having ADHD allows us to forget that our behaviors still have their consequences, and forming a dependency on dopamine from social media / your phone is still entirely possible as it's own thing. A solution to this would be to call or text a friend to hang out, or to call a family member to catch up. ive made the decision to quit instagram and other reel-type social media for the next 30 days. Low Dopamine = High Prolactin. I also downloaded Reddit to my phone but I don’t consider that to be social media in the Facebook sense of just mindlessly scrolling because instead of memes I’m usually looking to be social in the actual social sense, like now. COMT is an enzyme responsible for breaking down dopamine. After a while I stopped really caring. So apparently Social Anxiety is thought to be best treated by raising Dopamine, as well as GABA, the former being the reason MAOIs like Nardil are so considered good for the condition, and the latter why Benzos and Alcohol work well. As you accomplish this you will experience natural dopamine. This made me wonder if those who have issues with dopamine production would be more vulnerable to finding and latching on to info that matches their beliefs and potentially becoming more steadfast in those beliefs and unable to see or accept any conflicting info. And due to this there is a lower "reuptake" of dopamine at all other times. Jerking of or cocaine or even social media. For me, one way I’ve been able to minimize my time on reddit while also feeling like I’m getting value is reduce the amount of videos in your feed. I feel disappointed in myself. Social media gives you dopamine hits. It was really hard to quit, but its made a world of difference. They will likely not be as intense as the spikes from social media content, but they don’t fade as quickly making you less needing of another dopamine hit. So if you are functioning in a state of perpetual low Dopamine, you may be able to detect this with thru testing Prolactin. Dopamine releasing compounds can deplete dopamine levels in the synaptic cleft over time through various mechanisms, including downregulation and desensitisation of the DA receptors. The myth of 'Dopamine detoxes' and dopamine is 'bad' are social media trends not based on science. This leads to anxiety. I was a mess. Even things that feel good, like doing a hobby or sport or reading a book or hanging with a friend, can cost "activation energy" that you might not have to spare. Dec 23, 2024 · Social media platforms provide opportunities for social interaction, validation, and the anticipation of rewards, which can trigger dopamine release. i will not Video games, social media, mindless YouTube surfing and eating junk food. Top upvoted comment suggest some great ways to release dopamine but this is all in vain if your dopamine levels are low. Distress in social situations, causing impaired functioning in daily life. Sometimes we scroll through social media because we want to feel close to friends. . When someone reads "Dopamine Detox", they will conclude Good thing about reddit (and other social medias to some extent) is you can curate what you are looking at. Dopamine shows up in multiple neural pathways but the relevant one seems to be the reward pathways. I napped 2-3 hours every day after work. There are many solutions here, like taking a walk outside, drinking water, cleaning up, or doing a I get terrible sleep at least 3 times a week, and I have begun to wonder if dopamine is affecting or may be the cause of my mind racing at night. When we're participating in a dopamine envoking activity (whether that be exersize, studying, eating, sex), more dopamine is released until it peaks then drops below the baseline dopamine levels (postpartum depression) and eventually recovers. Therefore, one aim of digital minimalism is to make more room for the high-quality while purposefully limiting low-quality time. I recently stopped using instagram and all the social medias with photographs and visually intense content. If it were, pretty much everyone would easily accomplish their goals off the bat. Whenever I delete my apps for a few days, this feeling goes away. Not counting anti-social media i. this detox is my first step toward a life where I prioritize real, meaningful experiences over digital noise. I'm the same way. Unfortunately that leads to not getting the dopamine from achieving those tasks. Avoid things that hyper-stimulate your dopamine system like porn, fast food, drugs, video games, scrolling through social media, etc. r/AskReddit is the place to ask and answer thought-provoking questions. Reading is already quite different from 3D activities because you are staring at a flat surface and rehydrating the pictures. **Scheduled Social Media Time**: Instead of quitting cold turkey, allocate specific times for social media. Ergo; if you slow it down (like with caffeine), levels go up for a while. Don’t use Tiktok, Facebook, Twitter, Snap, etc. A lot of neurotypicals DO get adhd symptoms because of dopamine overstimulation. But now I’m realizing that I’m using it exactly how I did before— to escape. Yes. To tackle this challenge, there are two key ideas you need to understand. Sometimes we scroll social media because we feel anxious. If your overall health is great you shouldn’t feel a lack of motivation or enjoyment. I see a lot of Reddit posts from users that try to quit caffeine, sugar, porn, social media, Netflix, artificial sweeteners all at once because you've seen this Dopamine Detox trend. Shit's toxic, so happy I got Facebook out of my life years ago. "Dopamine sensitivity can be dramatically improved by fasting, intense workouts (sprints), social status, sun exposure on skin, bright light exposure on eyes (being outside all day), refraining from all types of binging on anything that releases dopamine, meditation, forskolin, vitamin d, uridine, refraining from fantasies, caffeine to some Over time, frequent use of social media can lead to dopamine-driven feedback loops, where users seek more engagement and validation, potentially leading to overuse or even addiction. Your body makes dopamine from tyrosine, a natural nutrient. For adhd its good with more dopamine, and a dopamine detox can send us spiralling into depression. I spent the last two months barely using social media other than watching a lot of YouTube cause that doesn't feel like social media to me (the way that Instagram does), and having a scroll through Instagram for a couple minutes every now and then to see if friends had posted. Create unnaturally high dopamine spikes, which then depress baseline dopamine levels which gets the addict to seek more of the drug to feel ‘normal’. Let’s say you open Instagram, see a post stimulating your brain, and get a dopamine hit. Anything, except seek other dopamine highs to compensate for your low. I stopped social media and video games. I always thought I was an introvert because I hate crowds and navigating new social situations, then I thought I was an extrovert but autistic, because I hate crowds but love having rowdy infodump conversations with other ADHD/autistic folks, and now I'm thinking maybe I AM an introvert, I just also rely on dopamine from (safe, comfortable So we really felt like It's due to the continuous usage of social media like Instagram and TikTok due to the dopamine hit for every short video. After that, you get a low and experience cravings. Rhonda Patrick here. Dopamine is a chemical to be nourished, like you said it increases your motivation! A great natural supplement that boosts Dopamine is L tyrosine, the recommended dosage is one 800mg capsule a day. And then I get depressed because I am so low on happy chemicals and stimulation. Baseline is the amount of dopamine you have in general. It begins with an action, such as posting a photo or status update, which creates anticipation for a response. Love the tattoo and the discussions such a design can stimulate. With social media and endless amounts of information from devices, we have limitless opportunities for immediate dopamine hits. So when I'm low, I am unmotivated to do long term gratification things like art etc and more drawn toward quick fixes, like social media, binge eating or video games. because the dopamine from social media isn’t exactly neutral, social media apps want you to actually be addicted. This would be things like social media - tv - procrastination- your typical bad habits Even smaller stimuli compounded over time can reduce our dopamine levels in the long-term: compulsively checking the news or social media (including Reddit or Youtube) presents us with an endless stream of potentially intriguing content, and spikes our dopamine levels with each new thumbnail or heading. The social media dopamine trickle is real. Apparently, excessive porn use actually affects one’s dopamine reward pathways and interferes with their ability to delay gratification. Halfway through September I came back to Snapchat, instagram, and TikTok because I went to college. bottom line is: it's officially out of Welcome to Dopamine Detoxing. However, excessive use of social media can lead to habituation, where the brain becomes less responsive to the dopamine release over time. Children raised with ipads and smartphones who browse tailored content that has been designed to get them addicted to viewing it will suffer the most from this. so i totally banned youtube and social media other than using them for tutorials and replying to DMs i limited my clicker game to only once every 5 hours, only activities that are low in dopamine and are productive are allowed, like reading, learning languge, exersize, etc DAY 1 The downside to dopamine, though, is clear: it can also generate undesirable addictions and cravings. Dec 1, 2024 · Have you tried quitting social media cold turkey multiple times and it didn’t work? Then this post is for you. Very limited social media, video games, etc. You need to "dopamine detox" in that you need to do a lot fewer high dopamine activities that are endless. I should have noticed it earlier and I’ve been struggling with a lot of dissonance in my “personality change”, when it was a combination of long term depression (around 5years now) and addiction. The phone can be a blessing or a curse and the video games the same. Now, it must be noted that in the beginning, the dopamine released from accomplishing small tasks or goals won’t be nearly as big as that released from things like gaming, social media, nicotine, booze, marijuana, etc, etc. High dopamine spikes = dopamine resistance = low baseline dopamine = low happiness = low motivation = failure at everything When talking about dopamine, we need to distinguish between dopamine baseline and dopamine spikes. comment So while I don't think that "Dopamine Detox" is a valid scientific term, it still frames (in the reader's mind) critical goals for addiction therapy- which is recovering dopamine sensitivity to behaviors that are outside of the addict's addiction of choice (in this case, social media). Dopamine detox is a cool 24 hour or 48 hour challenge you can do. Dopamine is the absolute prime way of lowering prolactin levels. This controlled exposure can help you stay connected without it overwhelming your life. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, which helps with motivation, but is also used to measure the addictive potential of any behaviors or drugs. this, I still need my memes. I’ve seen friends that used to be on heroin get super addicted to social media like ridiculously. Those who know science can use dopamine for their own purposes. You get notifications for things you’re not even mentioned in, which can lead to major FOMO, which leads to major depression. At that time, we thought about the relevance of the script and movie-making methods that will release dopamine (basically getting satisfaction and engaging/hooking people on to the movie). 24 or 48 hours will not reset your brain just because you stared at a wall. I deleted TikTok and instagram again but kept Snapchat to talk to family. Distraction-Dopamine-Disruption: Our inclination to being distracted also comes down to neurobiology. I use my phone all the time for that on Facebook reels and even Pinterest. If you need a dose of humor I would download iFunny. Aug 22, 2024 · The Social Media Dopamine Loop: How It Works. The dopamine feedback loop in social media is a complex mechanism that keeps users coming back for more. Hobbies are impossible for me with social media apps installed. The answer is no. they literally they us this like once a year. 45M subscribers in the AskReddit community. That means your body is in a state of chronic dopamine depletion. Sleep 8 hours. Say, you’re at work and you start browsing social media, or playing a mobile game in the break, or constantly checking your text messages – all this stimulates your brain and makes it more difficult to concentrate on your work, you aren´t going to feel like doing low dopamine work since you aren’t motivated. at all; my only form of current social media is Reddit. hgrhneo dzff gcszbo jvijo jpzth zubz cosvhx episq rlye uidgbqu fsyh brxzznk yzjf rsrlxz wfg