Is dopamine fasting good for you?

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A dopamine fast might help us stay balanced.

Or, it could drive us crazy.

Photo by Lautaro Andreani on Unsplash

All those notifications across are apps are making us stupid and numb.

They could even be blunting our reaction to dopamine — in a similar way to endless sugar blunting the insulin response, which leads to diabetes type 2.

What is a dopamine fast?

A dopamine fast is the removal of all highly distracting stimuli for 24 hours.

Similar to religious fasting, the idea of the dopamine fast is the following (which would also require medical approval, like a religious fast):

• No food
• No drinks other than water
• No TV, video games, movies, social media, newspapers, books and no technology
• No sex or masturbation
• No high impact exercise
• Minimal talking
• Minimal reading
• No music
• No podcasts