Dopamine detox social anxiety reddit Then i started the dopamine detox and reducing it in general. I also feel overwhelmed from social media seeing how my peers are getting all the life and I'm just on my bed with nothing done. You'll feel the urge to create/produce, this is where your gift thrives. You're going to pick one day of the week, where you're going to refrain from one of I am pretty sure that social media, including Reddit, exacerbates my ADHD and has reduced me to a barely functional adult 53yo person. Aug 22, 2024 · The Dopamine-Anxiety Connection: Unraveling the Mystery. I am not glued to email or my phone for any reason but addiction. Members Online Question about the detox. ASAP. I know this is an old thread but i thought i'd give my insight. I recently got rid of TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Distress in social situations, causing impaired functioning in daily life. The problem arises if you get into the dopamine “addiction” phase — when Reddit is no longer a positive, but rather a distraction. . Before dopamine detox, my day was like this: immediately after getting up, I tried to sit down straight to work (I work from home) Welcome to Dopamine Detoxing. These all stimulate our brain excessively and provide way too much dopamine. gg/PhcAvBUG How do you detox without becoming depressed? I’m a student so I already spend like 70% of my day doing unpleasurable shit. Jan 20, 2024 · Is this trending "dopamine detox" to reset digitally overstimulated brains legitimate? An expert breaks it down. I did not realize how much I was self soothing with social media. See the Required Reading for more. (Dopamine Detox) This is by far the most important thing you can do. There are a lot of instructional videos that are around 30 minutes, and it should be very difficult to pull dopamine from those. It is low dopamine level which cause anxiety and depression. Jumping in a creek is a lot more dopaminergic than slowly easing yourself into a cold tub or dialing the shower down, because it's more of a survival s Dopamine isn't that simple. Staying away from stimuli for days/weeks probably won't help you that much. That is how you start feeling those weird feelings. After that, you've got the hard work to do, and dopamine isn't some magical Oz-like being pulling strings. For example I am making a short film and everytime I do a dopamine detox I say "Ok, i will focus on write the script and paint the sketches", after that study programming and maybe running. And for those people it really can help. , anxiety, stress, boredom, frustration, loneliness) ️ ️ Hi everyone, this is the first time after many attempts that I was able to do a full week of dopamine detox. Members Online How to optimize video games and can anyone inform me about cold showers? Well its interesting how we're all different. If done correctly, "dopamine detox" actually increases real dopamine and can rewire your brain to use that as the primary motivator. No one talks about this. So I started with curating all my feeds - IG, FB, TikTok, Reddit, Twitter. Trick is hidden in keeping dopamine baseline level at constant, preferably higher, value. Introduction: A dopamine detox aims to rebalance the brain's reward system by taking a break from behaviors that excessively stimulate dopamine release, such as social media, gaming, and TV. I also always watch something while I eat, and one of my favorite parts of the dopamine detox was eating toward the end of the detox with nothing else going on, the food tasted better and I actually felt full and it was a good moment reflecting on how much we take for granted because of social media and instant entertainment and stuff, so id highly recommend not watching anything while you eat I've struggled with a lot of issues like anxiety, depression, and other seemingly random problems since middle school, but I think my issue is actually reduced dopamine. But, can super low baseline levels of dopamine cause severe anxiety (on top of depressive/mood disorders? When I searched this online I was surprised to see that nobody ever mentioned a "mild" or "soft" dopamine detox so i guess I need to define what I mean by that. We host challenges in which participants ("Fapstronauts") abstain from porn and even masturbation for a period of time, generally 7-30 days. Like for Reddit, I made specific multi-Reddit and stopped browsing r/all. Due to this, I think my dopamine receptors have been completely and utterly fried. Members Online 30 day No fap challenge! hmm it can be very hard with those challanges indeed >_< but i do believe that this kind of strict dopamine fasting does help with deepresion and anxiety, since social media is known to be a cause for young people being so anxious and deepressed, its probably because their receptors are overused, wich is i think why i experienced alot of those sympthoms as well without even realizing how bad Welcome to Dopamine Detoxing, by Andrew Kirby. How do you go about starting/accomplishing a dopamine detox? The ultimate goal is to stop using social media as a crutch and rather a tool to engage in what I want to engage in and further my own interests, while allowing most of my free time to be spent working on my goals and hobbies. Would it be a good idea to try some dopamine agonists like Mirapex or Requip for my social anxiety? Before the medication, I had to spend a lot of time figuring out what was eating up my attention. I suspect this because: Lack of motivation and stimulation, even for my hobbies Excessive fatigue, tiredness, and apathy (feels like depression symptoms) Well the first time I've done a dopamine detox was basically the first day in the past 6 years or so, where I didn't listen to music. While accepting responsibility for your decisions (like the browsing 12 hours a day, or whatever it was) is important, remember that the people running social media and websites like reddit spend MILLIONS of dollars to find ways to get you to browse a little longer, click a little more, and watch "just one I haven't watched this particular video, but Dr. Dopamine detox TD;DR I think it’s bullshit and I’m not here to defend it but try to unpack the theory and what is actually happening if anything The idea is give up social media and YouTube, music even. Get out of Reddit too it does count as social network. It should increase dopamine more robustly than high dose Effexor (which, is still quite weak on dopamine). I struggled with addiction to videogames, pornography, junkfood, social media scrolling etc. I hope it helps you. Official subreddit of NoFap, a porn addiction and compulsive sexual behavior recovery peer support website. The dopamine is already malfunctioning and does not simply readjust just because we get low dopamine. Physical symptoms may include: blushing, excess sweating, trembling, palpitations, and nausea, stammering, along, rapid speech, panic attacks. I've been studying dopamine and brain chemistry for some time now, just for my own interest. So much of my life has been lost. Twitter, IG, and TikTok. Start with daily exercise. Add in meditation. Doing it every day is more important than doing it well. To put it into context, if you asked me to read a book 2 months ago, I would’ve Jan 14, 2025 · A dopamine detox can help clear the mental clutter, allowing you to reconnect with what truly matters and find joy in everyday life again. When I read online about dopamine detox I thought it was exactly what I needed in my life. Help! Welcome to Dopamine Detoxing. But we also have a tendency to get addicted so some aspect of the dopamine detox definitely can benefit. I’ve worked in media and technology for most of my career but currently have a non-online job. Members Online 30 day No fap challenge! I did quit alcohol and TikTok but i didn't find myself capable of maintaining a conversation in a satisfactory way. To just experiance a “natural” flow of dopamine. I've never done a hardcore dopamine detox, but I have ADHD and I deleted the majority of social media (TikTok, Instagram, Facebook), stopped posting on social media, and deleted apps aswell as getting a minimal launcher on my phone. I'd like to add on to your 9th point about encouraging instead of berating yourself. The relationship between dopamine and anxiety is a complex and sometimes counterintuitive one. K (HealthyGamerGG) has a great video on the neuroscience of it and how if you've become desensitized to dopamine you may be able to "detox" and adjust your sensitivity, but that you need to abstain from highly dopaminergic activities for 2+ weeks in order to have the desired effect, because that's how long it takes for your neural pathways to So, to feel good, we seek dopamine seeking activities like eating, browsing social media, watching TV, etc. I've been diagnosed by a psychiatrist with ADHD and I have a few genes that say I'm likely to have ADHD but for me, Vyvanse and Ritalin both only relax me and increase sociability and confidence in the first 1-2 hrs after taking them and then it is followed by increased anxiety, increased rumination, increased negative thoughts, heightened self Dopamine detox doesn't detox dopamine. All this excess stimulation stresses your brain, which in turn produces adrenaline and cortisol. Its just that most of the positive effect would be lost if dopamine was out of the equation. Welcome to Dopamine Detoxing. Reply reply BruceWayne055 I gained a lot from here, and I consider my comeback to Reddit a great source of new views and awareness. Complete annihilation of stress/social anxiety, however the inability to form new memories more or less is what led me to poop out on it after around 3-4 weeks. Has anyone due to detoxing become a lot more social, a lot more capable of speaking to people, forming connections and being likeable? I believe I have brain fog due constant dopamine triggering and it’s hindered my ability to speak to people or be present. I can also provide 1 on 1 accountability. Social media addiction creats peak in dopamine baseline level which follows with significant downgrade of it, which cause anxiety. First thing I did next morning was put on some classical, while drinking my coffee and smoking a cig, then went on to eat breakfast (which I don't do that often surprisingly but in the past 3 days I have done) and then work out and meditate and have a cold shower. Ive used video games for the past 13 years to deal with anxiety and low self-esteem. i'm resetting my habits and reducing dopamine overload. It’s best not to cut out exercise (even if you find it pleasurable—trust me, it’s not going to ruin your dopamine detox). For most of us, dopamine is associated with activities like playing video games, scrolling through social media, or engaging in other forms of instant gratification. Essential Steps for a Successful Dopamine Detox Journey. If my first dose of dopamine is from internet/social media I can get stuck on that and it ends up being the primary way I seek dopamine that day, like I keep coming back to it even if I do other things during the day, whereas if the first dopamine in the morning comes from cleaning or finishing a school task I find myself getting stuck Introversion and shyness (personality characteristics) are not social anxiety (mental distress). Social media, tiktok, games, porn, movies, tv shows Etc. You’d have to wean off the Effexor and have a washout period before starting Nardil/phenelzine. g. It takes about a month to stop having the kneejerk reaction to post something you like when you find it Currently I am on day 7 of a Dopamine Detox. Exercise will balance dopamine as best as it can be. this detox is my first step toward a life where I prioritize real, meaningful experiences over digital noise. I have a history of depression and anxiety. This is a support group to help with impulsive behaviour towards Eating, Gaming, Gambling, Thrill, and Tech. I know some people say that it didn't work for them but I was willing to try. Phone breaks and video… Cold plunges are cold water torture. As soon as you put your phone down, withdrawal kicks in. I am now currently on 5 days without playing video games. ive had enough and am ready to reclaim control of my time and stop squandering over three hours each day on distractions. The biggest difference I've felt is the peace and clarity of mind which translate into many aspects of life. These are legitimate torture methods. I started to feel less anxious and insecure with the practice but really feel the difference when i started the dopamine detox/intake. Dopamine detox in this case tries to be a quick fix solution to a much bigger problem. We're available to anyone seeking sexual self-improvement. Don't just detox without goals, that'd be my advice. My understanding is that it's not really a dopamine detox, it's just lowering dopamine stimulation to normal levels. It's because they quell withdrawal. This could be porn, cell-phone addiction, dopamine-seeking behavior of any kind. This can also go to the lengths of smoking, drinking, watchin compulsive porn, etc. We will all hold each other accountable. So if you plan a dopamine fast yourself, here are a few things I suggest to keep in mind: Plan social events: When facing social pressure, it’s much harder to keep on eating sugar-free, resisting alcoholic drinks, refraining from going out or listening to music. But I would also say, that the component of the YES activities that actually are pleasurable - like the immediate decrease of anxiety after meditation - would be equally potent in dopamine inhibited individuals, as the study suggests. Recent research has shed light on how this neurotransmitter, typically associated with pleasure and reward, can also play a significant role in anxiety disorders. To put it shortly; this dopamine detox has opened my eyes. Calling something a dopamine detox doesn't make sense, because: 1: dopamine is not toxic, so you cant 'detox' it from your system, and 2. While it can provide insights into habits and triggers, real change requires active work and self-reflection. Triggered by perceived or actual scrutiny from others. Socially anxious people may be shy/introverted, but shy/introverted people do not necessarily have social anxiety Hi everyone, I recently decided to turn my life around, since I spend 14+ hours a day in front of a screen, so I figured I'd start getting rid of the… Memantine peaks ~4hours after intake from what I remember, I found my mood was always strong at +3/4hours after taking the dose. If you use the detox, then you may experience dopamine withdrawal symptoms, including anxiety, panic attacks, or depression. Social situations require a bit more organization: Perhaps you can invite people Disclaimer: Formally diagnosed with chronic depression and generalized/social anxiety, but not under any course of treatment currently. But enduring these uncomfortable feelings allows So apparently Social Anxiety is thought to be best treated by raising Dopamine, as well as GABA, the former being the reason MAOIs like Nardil are so considered good for the condition, and the latter why Benzos and Alcohol work well. I never realised how much I needed it. This releases dopamine and you suddenly feel good. https://discord. there is little evidence that reducing screen time, and engaging with the world impacts global dopamine levels in your brain. Dec 23, 2024 · A dopamine detox is a process of intentionally reducing or eliminating the things that trigger the release of dopamine in our brains, which can lead to addiction. Stop doing those first and your dopamine will come back and cortisol will lower. The reason you feel the overwhelming urge to do these things is not because they produce something that is inherently that good. That along with too much cortisol. I don’t plan on quitting my “detox” and I plan to continue it indefinitely as its benefits are just too beneficial to me in almost every single way possible. Watch his video on dopamine and the analogy of the tidal wave pool. I've tried various SSRIs, SNRIs, and TCAs but couldn't tolerate any of them. I decided to stop all those addictions cold turkey, 7 days ago. Has anyone experienced positive benefits from this aspect due to this detox? The main reason I want to try dopamine detox is because I want to feel energetic again and ACTUALLY get something done in the long term. If you're an adrenaline junkie like I was, then there is a right way and a very wrong way to do this. Yet calling it dopamine detox is seriously wrong. I can say 90% of people will not remember they even met you that day. hmm it can be very hard with those challanges indeed >_< but i do believe that this kind of strict dopamine fasting does help with deepresion and anxiety, since social media is known to be a cause for young people being so anxious and deepressed, its probably because their receptors are overused, wich is i think why i experienced alot of those sympthoms as well without even realizing how bad Welcome to Dopamine Detoxing, by Andrew Kirby. Are chronic, abnormally low dopamine levels more associated with anxiety, or are chronic, abnormally high levels more associated with anxiety? Isn't there a hypothesis that patients with schizophrenia have highly elevated levels of dopamine. I quit social media over the summer to help focus on my WFH internship and after about a week the anxiety portion went away. So watch a sunset, read a book, exercise, that sort of stuff. For adhd its good with more dopamine, and a dopamine detox can send us spiralling into depression. One example was social media was a huge culprit. Welcome to Dopamine Detoxing, by Andrew Kirby. ive made the decision to quit instagram and other reel-type social media for the next 30 days. Hello r/getdisciplined!. I was an alcoholic for a year or so after that and went through alcohol withdrawals. Starting your dopamine detox journey is all about making conscious and effective choices! Not sure if dopamine is they “key”, but it might be part of the picture. Would it be a good idea to try some dopamine agonists like Mirapex or Requip for my social anxiety? I know this is an old thread but i thought i'd give my insight. Focus on the actual things you’re giving up for now— junk food, music, electronics, sex— and just live life and don’t focus on the dopamine And actual dopamine detox is a real if poorly named therapy technique in CBT, where from a position of mindfulness (also a scientifically validated mental health technique), you critically evaluate your relationship with whatever things you’ve created unhealthy relationships with, which might be spending too much time on social media, or Reducing most stimulation. Because ADHD craves it and it soothes trauma from my youth. This reduces anxiety for a short period Heyhey, after the past 31 days I completed my first ever month-long extreme dopamine / consumism detox and I wanted to share my motivation, results, realisations (and some techniques). These are just the minor forms of dopamine seeking activities. I'm not taking any other supplements or medications that are noteworthy, mostly things like vitamins and fish oil. Posted by u/HelloItsTruly - 10 votes and 8 comments Hi everyone. it's not as unilateral as people think. Hot sauna is sauna torture. I've had a really bad problem with social media addiction for about 6 years now, and it's gotten to the point where I'll have reddit and twitter open, listening to music, in front of a game on my xbox and still feel bored. Best of luck champ!!! Drugs like ecstasy or molly blow all your dopamine levels and take many days to replenish. And there is ton of stupid comment that say dopamine detoxing is impossible because you can’t remove dopamine from the brain but what they don’t understand is that the term dopamine detox is just a common term to explain the act of reducing Activity like junk food and social media that trigger big dopamine spike and in the long run reduce To put it simply: Dopamine detox works because you become so bored, that boring stuff becomes more fun. Had alot of issues in school around 13 years ago that affected my social confidence and self esteem and made my anxiety worse. Start with a Dopamine Detox, then maintain a Dopamine Fast. Full disclosure: I was a pothead from about 18-21 years old and I stopped because of weird symptoms like whole body numbness, anxiety, anhedonia, just feeling "weird" in a bad way, social anxiety and isolation etc. The dopamine detox from Andrew's videos will help greatly because when you're not consuming the dopamine hits your natural drive to produce and express kicks in. Start by asking cashiers and servers how their day is going. Taking the 'image' in your 'imagination' and expressing it into the physical world Hi all, Since my social anxiety is alleviated by low dose amisulpride which is supposed to raise dopamine level by inhibiting the D2 autoreceptors. , social media) arise when you feel an uncomfortable sensation/feeling within you (e. Jun 2, 2023 · It involves identifying behaviors that you turn to too frequently for a quick boost—mainly things like social media, gaming, and watching TV—then taking a break from them for a few days to a Dec 30, 2024 · Experiencing “withdrawal symptoms” like cravings or anxiety is to be expected, Lembke says, as the brain adjusts to lower levels of dopamine. Nardil/phenelzine has a good reputation for social anxiety. But because the dopamine system/reward system is stimulated by many things that were supposed to bring us survival advantage but also were linked to hard work - social interactions (in real life), food (that we were "hunting for"), getting other types of rewards - and the system was "hacked" with "easy pleasures" - and no hard work - these Sep 2, 2022 · Increased anxiety during dopamine detox is natural and expected if you have been using drugs or alcohol as a way of medicating yourself in stressful situations or everyday stressors. Sep 9, 2024 · A dopamine detox involves giving up pleasurable activities in order to “reset your brain” and live a happier life. It detoxes adrenaline and cortisol. Edit: to me if I was making major lifestyle changes, tackling my social anxiety would seem perfect to lump into detox. For example, you could allow yourself to watch one 30 minute documentary during your meals. Now if you don't want to take such extreme action and starve yourself of all the pleasure, you can perform a smaller dopamine detox. It's far too easy to abuse dopamine these days, so I thought of it as going back to a time before technology. When you start spending more and more time on, it’s time for a change — for a dopamine “detox”. i will not Hello brother, i would suggest you read the book Dopamine nation or watch andrew huberman podcast with anna liembke, this is quite common, there's sort of a bell curve where your cravings will worsen but then they'll plateau and lower out, this 17-21 should be the last of it, usually after 3 to 4 weeks, your body behaves normally and sometimes it takes longer but after 4 weeks you'll be where Welcome to Dopamine Detoxing. For those of you who don't know what a dopamine detox is, it's basically when you stop all of your addictive habits like video games, sugary foods, pornography, smoking, drinking, watching TV, or using social media for a period of time to reset the receptors in your brain. DAILY. But here’s the thing: It doesn’t work. For the few people on this sub who don't know what it is, when people talk of "dopamine detoxing" they usually mean the abstinence of activities that provide Exercise actually boosts serotonin, and that helps regulate dopamine. Members Online 30 day No fap challenge! I’m sure it’d be a good challenge for people without ADHD, but I think the fact that our brains a) don’t produce as much dopamine and b) can’t receive as much dopamine as those without our disorder means it’d be absolute hell for us haha it’s hard enough to function even with all of these dopamine-filled behaviors, let alone without Stay away from what you use to bombard yourself with dopamine, and go for more long-form, educational content. Or pick up chess. Notice how your cravings for instant gratification (e. vyfqdk szbf lrbzq dyhm ilq jtqip acbooj xdwmwn ypv bnts uuek ptya pofhy vjnt fnwu