This summer, the hashtag “dopamine detox” blew up on TikTok. The phrase, which refers to cutting out activities that provide you with a little dopamine hit like social media or TV, currently has 82 million views on TikTok. And perhaps unsurprisingly, influencers like Emma Chamberlain started documenting their own “dopamine detoxes” to the masses.
The Internet trend involves giving up anything that quickly boosts dopamine, which is the feel-good chemical made in your brain that acts as a messenger between nerve cells in your brain and the rest of your body, according to Cleveland Clinic. Dopamine is part of your brain’s reward system, because it gives you a sense of pleasure, as well as the motivation to do something when you’re feeling pleasure. It also plays a role in many body functions, including memory, movement, motivation, mood, attention and more.
But in today’s world, access to digital media floods our brains with too many quick dopamine hits, says Dr. Anna Lembke, MD, a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine and author of Dopamine Nation. Think of how easy it is to order dinner, listen to music, and catch up on social media—all within a few seconds.
Meet the Experts: Dr. Anna Lembke, MD, a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine and author of Dopamine Nation.
Dave Sulzer, PhD, a professor of psychiatry, neurology, and neurobiology at Columbia University.
The double-edged dopamine sword is that the more hits you take, the less effective each one is. Eventually, this results in decreased ability to derive the same amount of pleasure from these actions.
This is where the “detox” element comes in. The theory goes that cutting off your dopamine sources will help you escape saturation. And while it’s definitely trendy now, the phenomenon actually first entered the Internet zeitgeist around 2019—when tech bros and self-improvement seekers popularized the idea of “fasting” from all mood-boosting activities, including eating (?!), Internet use, and socialization, in order to feel more satisfaction from life.
By 2023, the trend trickled down to the “that girl” corner of the Internet, where women billing themselves as the ultimate wellness girlies boasted the positive affects of their own “dopamine detoxes.” These TikTokers told their followers that they provided “life changing” benefits like better focus and productivity, and claimed they started waking up more “refreshed,” and “like a person again.”
At its most basic, this “detox” can translate to a media cleanse, and at its most extreme, it involves fasting and social isolation. Most influencers on my timeline seemed to fall somewhere in the middle—they cut out social media, fast food, and music, but often didn’t go as far as a full-on social isolation cleanse.
FWIW, dopamine production is a natural body process, so you can’t *actually* detox from it, nor should you want to, says Dave Sulzer, PhD, a professor of psychiatry, neurology, and neurobiology at Columbia University. Instead, Sulzer suggests thinking of this cleanse as a way to address behaviors you want to change.
Still, the concept was so intriguing that I wanted to test it out. I like doing regular social media detoxes (I first did one during exams in high school) and generally feel happier and more focused afterwards, so I figured this would just level up my “cleanses.” I tested a lower-tier dopamine detox for 48 hours, and gave up scrolling social media, listening to music, drinking alcohol, ordering food, and watching anything on a screen (television, YouTube, movies) from Thursday night to Saturday night.
As you might imagine, it was extremely difficult. And sadly, I didn’t feel particularly enlightened when it was over (more on that later), but here’s what I learned along the way.
I “dopamine detoxed” for 48 hours—and I was bored out of my mind.
A “dopamine detox” is really hard. I started my experiment on a Thursday evening at around 4 p.m. My work day ended around 6 p.m., and by 6:15 p.m., I was bored out of my mind.
I’ll confess that I spend a lot of time catching up on social media after work (primarily TikTok), and almost always spend the entirety of my workday listening to music (I love Spotify’s Classical Mix). Without those aspects, my day felt a lot emptier. I had nothing to do.
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