Most people today know a dopamine detox or dopamine fast as a quick cure-all for their mental health problems. This is how it typically works:

Step 1. An individual accrues a number of bad lifestyle habits over time (like sleeping insufficiently, overeating junk food, or partying excessively)

Step 2. Their unhealthy habits slowly start to catch up with them, and they begin to feel low, anxious, and uninspired.

Step 3. They come across a social-media influencer or self-help guru who convinces them that things will change for the better once they take a break from all things pleasurable — do a dopamine fast.

Step 4. Although frustrating, the individual avoids all pleasurable activities.

Step 5. Repeat Step 1.

Here are a few things to know about dopamine and its role in keeping us healthy.

First, dopamine is a neurotransmitter, its function is to help our brain cells communicate with each other. Specifically, dopamine helps in regulating our mood, learning, body movements, sleep, and concentration. Because of its involvement in the brain’s reward system, it is released when we have pleasurable experiences like having sex, eating pizza, or window shopping.

It’s also important to understand that dopamine itself doesn’t produce any feelings of pleasure. Rather, it simply reinforces the link between activities we find enjoyable and the experience of pleasure.

Cameron Sepah, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UCSF, came up with dopamine detox as a form of cognitive behavioral therapy. It is meant to put restrictions on the behaviors we are addicted to, not pleasure as a blanket emotion. Becoming mindful of the things we crave reveals our impulses to ourselves, and helps us transcend unhealthy patterns of behavior.

Armed with this knowledge, let’s reframe what we know about dopamine.

Behavior Modification May Be a More Accurate Term

This specifically targets six types of impulsive behavior. Since dopamine is neither toxic, addictive, nor pleasurable in itself, the term dopamine detox is somewhat of a misnomer. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t harmful consequences associated with higher levels of dopamine in the brain. For instance, one 2014 study published in Psychology and Neuroscience found that dopamine can contribute to aggressive behavior and risk-taking behavior, specifically in competitive contexts.

That said, the cognitive behavioral therapy form of this has nothing to do with the potentially harmful effects of dopamine. Rather, such a dopamine fast is best suited to control impulsive behaviors such as:

1. Emotional eating
2. Internet or gaming
3. Gambling or shopping
4. Thrill or novelty-seeking behaviors
5. Recreational drug use

The idea is to reduce the frequency and intensity of these impulsive behaviors by restricting or avoiding them for a certain period of time. This can help weaken the association between the behavior and reward, thus restoring behavioral flexibility and control.

Once this flexibility and control is established, the priority is to keep a check on how one indulges in the once-impulsive behavior.

Conclusion

Psychology is frequently oversimplified. Complex ideas are commonly misrepresented to appeal to a wider audience. Depriving yourself of all pleasurable activity through a behavior detox is an extreme step and could make you feel worse. If you are battling an addiction to a certain behavior, speak to a mental health practitioner to understand the best path forward.