Ready to try dopamine fasting?

Key takeaways:

• Dopamine fasting involves voluntarily abstaining from problematic and compulsive behaviors for specific periods.
• Dopamine fasting is rooted in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), aiming to interrupt compulsive behaviors by minimizing external stimuli triggering these behaviors.
• Start off gradually by fasting for one to four hours per day. If you need to indulge in the behavior, consider scheduling dopamine feasts, where you set specific times to engage in problematic behaviors followed by complete abstinence.

Maybe you’ve dabbled with intermittent fasting, or fasted for religious reasons. But have you tried dopamine fasting?

Back in 2019, Maximus CEO Cam Sepah introduced “Dopamine Fasting 2.0,” which involves voluntarily abstaining from problematic and compulsive behaviors for specific stretches of time. It was promptly called “Silicon Valley’s hot new trend” and covered by news outlets worldwide. It was just as promptly misinterpreted.

Despite what you may have read about dopamine fasting, it’s a technique that maximizes your productivity, your attention, and your mental health. Keep reading to find out how it really works and what people get wrong.

Dopamine Fasting 2.0 is not anti-pleasure

One of the biggest misconceptions about dopamine fasting is that it involves total abstinence from things that bring you pleasure. As one tech CEO (and self-proclaimed dopamine faster) told The New York Times, “I avoid eye contact because I know it excites me…I have to fight the waves of delicious foods.”

But Dopamine Fasting 2.0 isn’t a fancy new term for asceticism; you’re not being asked to abstain from all stimulating behaviors, just the problematic ones you engage in compulsively, and only for temporary stretches of time. These periods of abstinence allow you to break patterns that may be interfering with or preventing healthier behaviors. They also allow you to face emotions you may be avoiding with your compulsive behaviors, which is critical for your mental health.

Keep in mind, reducing how often you engage in problematic and compulsive behaviors does not mean reducing your dopamine. It means curbing addictions that can become reinforced by dopamine and reclaiming control of your life.

Why dopamine?

You’ve probably heard of Pavlov’s dog experiment, which is a prime example of “classical conditioning.” If you present a bowl of food to a dog, he’ll naturally salivate. If you consistently ring a bell at the time of feeding, the dog will learn to associate the bell with the food. Eventually he’ll salivate when he hears the bell, whether or not there’s food, because the anticipation of a bowl of food triggers the release of dopamine.

Like that dog, we can learn to associate certain objects with pleasure over time: the chime of a text message, the red dot signifying a new “Like,” the “ta-dum” sound upon opening Netflix. These fixtures of modern life elicit a dopamine release that keeps us coming back for more, whether we’re seeking novelty, distraction, social validation, or something else. Over time, we become just as excited by the chime, the device, and the idea of what might be waiting for us, that we’ll turn to it without thinking, mindlessly scrolling until we get the next hit.

Of course, compulsive tech use isn’t the only problematic behavior tied to dopamine surges. Overeating, shopping, masturbating, gambling, drinking — there are a number of other habits that might be robbing your time and attention, and chances are you need a little more engagement each time to get that same rush you’ve come to rely on. That’s because when you flood your brain with dopamine repeatedly with the same stimulus, it could eventually lead to a dopamine deficit state. Research on social media addiction shows that people experience less pleasure when they’re not using social media because their dopamine levels dip below baseline. If that sounds like a comedown, you’re not wrong. When deprived of your stimulus, your brain needs time to replenish your dopamine and you could feel like crap until it happens. For many, it feels a lot easier to just dip into the compulsive behavior again (and again and again).

The science of dopamine fasting

Dopamine fasting is rooted in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). We can learn how to interrupt our compulsive behaviors by minimizing the external stimuli that’s triggering these behaviors. This means you don’t have to rely on willpower alone.

For instance, if you have a problem with social media use or porn, think about making your phone or tablet harder to access or using website-blocking software to minimize temptation. If you always stop at the liquor store on the way home from work, take a different route home.

How to complete a dopamine fast

There are two easy ways to complete a dopamine fast:

1. Fast for small periods and build up gradually: A gentle approach to dopamine fasting is to only consciously abstain from the behavior for one to four hours each day. You’ll also want to try to abstain from the behavior for one whole weekend day each week, one full weekend per quarter, and an entire week of fasting per year. Remember, these are just guidelines, not strict rules — start with something that feels approachable to you.
   
   Also, if you’re fasting from social media, this doesn’t mean that you abstain from one hour and then spend the next 23 hours scrolling into oblivion. But it does mean making a conscious choice to keep your phone or tablet out of reach and resisting the urge to reach for it when tempted (we call this “urge surfing”).
   
   
2. Feast and fast: If you’d like to cut back on a problematic behavior so you're doing it as little as possible but still need or want to do it sometimes, go the feasting and fasting route. Create a container of time for the problematic behavior, allowing yourself to engage with the behavior for 5-30 minutes at a time, 1-3 times each day. This could mean limiting your social media use to just one hour each day or only checking your phone for a few minutes after mealtimes (this is your feast). When time is up, abstain completely (fast).
   
   

Only you can decide which behaviors are problematic in your life, but here are some clues that you may want to complete a dopamine fast:

• A behavior is causing you distress
• It’s interfering with your optimal social or professional performance
• You’ve tried (and failed) to consistently cut down in the past.

Some of the most common compulsive behaviors today include social media, gaming, porn, gambling, shopping, emotional eating, recreational drugs (including alcohol and caffeine!), and thrill seeking

Dr. Cam’s Health Hack

During a dopamine fast, it’s pretty clear what you should not do. But what should you do? Take this advice from Dr. Cam:

“You don't need to do nothing or meditate during a dopamine fast. Just engage in activities that reflect your values:

- Physical health (exercise/cooking)

- Learning (reading) creating (writing/art)

- Relationships (talking, bonding over activities)”

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