The deeper we get into 2024, the stronger the urge to throw my smartphone into a deep body of water becomes. My days are spent flitting between social media apps, checking Slack, replying to messages and memes from friends and family, and (the worst) doom-scrolling until my eyeballs feel like they could shrivel up and drop out. And I know I’m not alone.
is on our devices: friendship, work, music, our camera, maps, and notes. While that was considered to be a goal 17 years ago when stood up on a stage to launch the iPhone, thus careening society into a tech revolution and new timeline, in 2024 being offline is the ultimate luxury. It’s a notion that other people are cottoning onto as well.
What is a dopamine detox? One example of this is the dopamine detox trend that (ironically) took over our TikTok FYPs late last year. Basically, users “detox” or abstain from activities that give them a quick rush of the reward and pleasure chemical, dopamine. Shopping, social media use, and TV watching are just a few that can give us a rush of these feel-good chemicals as our brains respond to the stimuli.
The dopamine detox urges users to cut out (or cut back) on these activities for an extended period of time to “recalibrate” their brain’s stores of the chemical. Psychologist , the author of , says that the practice is not actually about reducing dopamine, but is just a catchy name for a cognitive behavioural therapy-based technique to help people reduce compulsive behaviour.