Dopamine is a neurotransmitter (a chemical in the brain) that creates feelings of happiness. It comes from the sense of a need being met and provides motivation. Happiness, needs being met and motivation: that’s a powerful combination, isn’t it? The problem is that it is triggered by healthy and unhealthy sources. Worse: you can become addicted to negative sources because it makes you want more, and more. and more. The reason is that it is a reward mechanism. In a world which promotes immediate gratification, it can become addictive, not unlike cocaine.
How negative dopamine triggers affect your brain
- Creates dopamine addiction: Many negative triggers cause unnaturally high dopamine spikes. Your brain compensates for these spikes by reducing sensitivity so you need more and more to feel the same. You become addicted to the feeling of relief rather than the feeling of reward which dopamine is designed to do
- Short-term gain, long-term pain: you get instant gratification but you feel much worse afterwards, including feelings of guilt, fatigue, shame, anxiety and difficulty focusing
- Negative consequences: there are often negative consequences including lack of sleep from binge-watching TV, compromised health and energy from eating junk food, financial difficulties from gambling and shopping addiction, compromised relationships from porn addiction
- Impacts motivation for meaningful activity: dopamine is the reward system that comes from achievement. However, the instant gratification sources, like sugar, lowers the motivation for real achievement. For example, the reading and study required to build a new skill or the exercise required to achieve a fitness goal
Ten tips to overcome dopamine addiction
How can you make sure that you get the positive effects from dopamine without the negative consequences? Here are top 10 tips to help you overcome dopamine addiction:
- Identify your triggers: It’s important to make sure that your sources of dopamine are positive so that they stimulate dopamine in a way that promotes motivation, learning, well-being and long-term reward. Negative sources, by contrast give short-term spikes of dopamine which create motivational crashes and addiction. I have provided a is a useful list below to help you.
- Practice strategic dopamine fasting. Examples might be to take frequent breaks from overstimulating activities such as video games or social media. Another is regular 24 hour breaks from junk food. This way your brain creates a tolerance to the “boredom” that the addicted brain feels from healthy sources. In turn, you learn to get healthy dopamine from a real sense of achievement and delayed gratification (so much more powerful and enduring than the instant kind)
- Replace. It’s always hard to give something up entirely – the brain yearns for what it can’t have. It is easier to replace than to remove. For example, replace social media with a really good book or hobby
- Make bad habits difficult: make it harder to access the bad habit. For example, use website blockers, remove apps from your phone, don’t have biscuits in the house
- Embrace delayed gratification: when you feel the urge to indulge, wait 20 minutes. Nine times out of ten you will find that the urge fades, if not, EFT is a great way to manage the craving (see my YouTube channel for instructions)
- Make healthy habits easier: commiting to a lifetime of healthy habits can feel overwhelming. Instead, deciding to commit just 30 seconds makes it easier to continue. It’s the getting started that can be difficult. And think of the feelings of gratification you will get from doing it
- Mindful choices: remember that dopamine is a reward mechanism but chasing rewards is an addiction. By mindfully choosing and cultivating your reward, you will enjoy it better. Think quality rather than quantity
- Healthy habits: taking care of your general health can provide a good foundation for positive rather than default choices. Things like hydration, healthful meals with good sources of protein, good sleep hygeine and mindfulness really help
- Focus: most people are familiar with the feeling of having too many tabs open on their computer at once, getting into a rabbit hole of clicking such that you forget what you were doing. This creates dopamine burnout, exhaustion, unfinished tasks and frustration. Focus on one thing at once: multi-tasking is a myth
- Meaningful goals: having meaningful goals for the day, week and longer term helps you to focus on what’s important and to get a sense of achievement, not just on achieving the goal but also on achieving the milestones that take you there.
Sources of positive and negative dopamine triggers
Summary
Dopamine is an important neurotransmitter that creates motivation and feelings of achievement and happiness. But too much of the wrong type leads to shame, exhaustion, lack of focus and addiction. Be mindful when you choose your source of dopamine and you can enjoy all the positive benefits without any of the negative consequences. Dopamine in itself is not a problem, it is the source which can be harmful to you, your mental health and your life. Choosing healthy dopamine triggers will be the gift that keeps on giving. Enjoy!
If you are struggling to rewire your habits, do contact me on 0345 130 0854 to find out how I can help you.
(C) Tricia Woolfrey
PS If you want to find out more about how neurotransmitters affect your mood, you might enjoy this article.
PPS To find out more about dopamine, visit here.
