Have you heard of the “dopamine detox” that went viral in Silicon Valley a while ago? It is said that it can help you get rid of various addiction problems and can also make you feel refreshed and improve your concentration. Is this true? Let’s talk about “Dopamine Detox” today! Hiho~ Hello everyone, I am Zhiqi! Have you ever had such an experience? I obviously want to do something serious , but I naturally pick up my phone because I received a notification, and as soon as I swipe it, I can't put it down. Or before going to bed, I want to watch YouTube or IG, but accidentally, an hour or two has passed! What’s even more frightening is that even though you know it’s bad, you still can’t resist the urge to scroll through your phone, which wastes a lot of time and makes you often stay up late and lack sleep. In fact, the reason why you can’t quit these bad habits may be that your body has been deprived of dopamine. "Restriction" makes you addicted! Because of this, more and more people have begun to try "dopamine detoxification" in recent years , hoping to regain focus and find "real happiness." Today, let us talk about addiction and dopamine. What is the relationship? What about the so-called “dopamine detox”? Does it really work? But before we start today’s discussion, let’s go into some business service time! [What is dopamine? 】 Some people may think that dopamine is a bad thing and therefore they need to "detoxify", but this is not actually the case! Dopamine is a "neurotransmitter" that exists in everyone's body . Some people would say it is a "happy molecule." But in recent years, experts prefer to call it a "desire molecule." Simply put, dopamine does not directly bring people Happiness is about giving people a "desire to be happy." In ancient times, whether humans went out hunting or competing for mates, it was a very high-risk thing. If you were not careful, you would lose your life. In order to generate "motivation" To do these hard things, the brain has evolved a "reward system." When you see delicious food or a "sexually attractive" object, your brain will secrete dopamine to make you feel excited, which will lead to hunting, or It is the desire to pursue . In other words, when dopamine is produced in your brain, you will "expect" to get some kind of happiness , which will drive you to do some actions that you might not otherwise want to do. The reward mechanism of dopamine has greatly improved human beings. The survival rate in ancient times was poor, but this mechanism has spread to modern times and has become the culprit of many people's "addiction" [Dopamine makes us addicted? 】 Although modern human beings have much less pressure to survive , dopamine still continues to control the "desires" in our lives. For example , if you look at your mobile phone for a long time and a lot, which makes you feel happy, the dopamine secreted in your brain will also increase. Then, the brain will Tie these two behaviors together to form a constraint! Over time, even the unread red dots on the App can stimulate our desires and make us have the urge to indulge. These desires can easily lead to "addiction"! Everyone should have learned in biology class before that when we eat a big meal, blood sugar will rise . Then, the body will secrete "insulin" to make the blood sugar drop and slowly return to the normal value. This is the body's built-in blood sugar "constant" mechanism . It was found that dopamine in our body has a similar mechanism. When the concentration of dopamine increases due to external stimulation, the "constant" mechanism in our body will also activate to reduce the concentration of dopamine after the desire is satisfied. However! Just like when blood sugar drops too fast, some people feel dizzy and want to vomit. When dopamine suddenly drops, people will also feel "empty, unmotivated" or even painful . Usually, as long as you endure it for a while and wait for the dopamine concentration to recover, you will be fine. However , if you "can't help" and continue to seek the pleasure brought by stimulation for a long time, you will become "addicted" and cannot get rid of the source of stimulation. What's even more frightening is that the human body will have "tolerance" to caffeine and alcohol. Just like sex, the human body will become less and less sensitive to continuous stimulation . It needs to continuously increase the intensity of stimulation to relieve the addiction. If you scroll on your phone for 1 hour every day , you may not be satisfied even if you scroll for 2 or 3 hours. It is becoming easier and easier to fall into the cycle of "just watch another drama" and "just play one more game". The reason why modern people are so easy to become addicted is also related to the "digital drugs" that are everywhere ! [Digital drugs are harmful to people? 】 Everyone may have had a similar experience. When you were on vacation, you originally wanted to read a book or go out for exercise, but suddenly a notification popped up on your phone. After you clicked on it, you found that your friend had not finished replying to a limited-motion message, but another one popped up to notify you. Your favorite YouTuber uploads a new movie and you want to say: "It's not very long anyway, just watch it!" After clicking on it and watching it, I checked a few more video results pushed by the algorithm, and I came back to my senses in an afternoon. No more why do I feel so useless! In fact, this is not necessarily your problem but the experts behind the online platforms and games are deliberately trying to keep you hooked. In order to increase the time you stay on the platforms and games, they use various methods to continuously stimulate your dopamine release! As long as you log in to the game, you will be given a small reward. Scroll down and watch a short video to discover memes you have never seen. Click on a red notification dot to see who has sent you a message and who has clicked your like button. These satisfy your desires. The actions are really too simple! Unconsciously, everyone is always looking for the next source of stimulation to get a small pleasure . Therefore, these social software and games have become "digital drugs" that paralyze everyone's dopamine system . Many people even see notifications without being clicked. If you open it , you will feel something wrong all over your body and become extremely anxious, which will seriously affect your quality of life! Therefore, in recent years, some people have begun to promote the so-called "dopamine detoxification" in the hope of helping everyone get rid of this situation! [What exactly is dopamine detoxification doing? 】 The so-called dopamine detoxification is also called "dopamine withdrawal", "dopamine fasting" or "dopamine fasting". Its concept is like diet control, but it only controls the "stimuli in life." Like a while ago, in Silicon Valley, very The popular practice is to eliminate all things that may stimulate "dopamine secretion" within 24 hours ! People who implement this detoxification method will choose one day every month to do some "low-stimulation" things such as relaxing, meditating or reading. On this day, they can only eat meals, snacks, touch mobile phones, or use The more extreme ones on the Internet may even ask relatives and friends around you not to have any unnecessary interactions with them on this day! Prevent yourself from secreting too much dopamine . However, this approach is a bit extreme. Some experts believe that everyone's "addiction" is different and you can "prescribe the right medicine", starting with the most addictive one and dealing with long-term and continuous reduction. For example, how to implement it? To put it simply, it means "increasing the difficulty." For example, if you want to quit social software, you can delete the app on your phone. Then you have to turn on the computer every time you want to use it . Or, if you want to quit mobile games, You can remove the bound credit card for tuition fees , so you have to take out the card and re-enter it every time you want tuition fees. When the threshold for doing these things increases , it also means that there is more "buffer time" for yourself to realize "I am about to do something I want to quit", and you will have a better chance to restrain your actions in the present! This method is less painful , but the key is to "continue to perform it for at least a month" to balance the dopamine in the body and slowly return to normal. The more detailed dopamine detoxification method is actually very close to the clinical "cognitive behavioral therapy" because It’s quite complicated. We won’t talk too much here. For those who are interested, you can look for relevant information and books. We will also put reference materials in the information column. In short, just like diet control, some people choose intermittent fasting and some people choose Eat less certain foods . The so-called "dopamine detox" is actually just a variety of life adjustments to "reduce stimulation". But then again, do these methods really work? [Is dopamine detox really effective? 】 Some people who have tried dopamine detox said that after 24 hours of successful withdrawal , their minds really became very clear the next day! It also becomes easier to concentrate. This effect makes them willing to perform a dopamine detoxification once a month . However, there is currently no clear medical research to confirm that the dopamine detoxification method is really effective. Some experts believe that "completely eliminate the source of stimulation." The approach is a bit too extreme and not everyone is suitable for it! Even going too far can have counter-effects. For example, during withdrawal, you may engage in self-injurious behavior because it is too painful, or you may use stronger stimulation to make up for the pain of the previous day the day after withdrawal . Therefore, most people Doctors and psychologists suggest that it is better to adjust slowly and step by step, which is also closer to the medical treatment methods they use to help addicted patients. Finally, doctors also remind that some people who are seriously addicted or have failed to quit can still go to "detox". Addiction Clinic" to seek professional help! [Our point of view] Well, during the research process, we deeply realized that it is really, really difficult to quit an addiction! Therefore, instead of waiting until you become addicted to find a solution , it may be easier to "prevent" addiction in advance by understanding the causes of addiction ! It is also because of this that we spend more time discussing the mechanism of dopamine in this episode , hoping to help everyone understand why modern people are so prone to addiction problems. In addition, regarding the correlation between dopamine and addiction, we have previously discussed "Why do people get bored?" I mentioned it a little bit! If you want to know more , you can click on that part and take a look. Then again, during our research, we also felt that the so-called "dopamine detoxification" is not that complicated in nature. It is the same as "diet control" and the general direction is " "Control desires and learn patience." The really difficult thing is to find a method that suits you and persevere and stick to it! If you also feel that you are suffering from mild addiction , you can try to gradually get rid of digital drugs starting today . Maybe you can also find the "detoxification method" that suits you best! Okay, so at the end of today I want to ask everyone, would you like to try any type of dopamine detoxification method? Finally, if you like today’s video, please share it so more people can discuss the dopamine detox method! In addition, you can also click here to read "Why do people get bored" and the sharing of "Little Red Book Algorithm Engineer". So, today's Zhiqi Qiqi comes to an end here. See you tomorrow night!
