Background
Our TV broke, for a couple of days now. The main attraction of the living room, no doubt about that, is now gone. Kids who were glued to the TV all afternoons did not find anything to do at first. But the circumstances have changed and they are getting some fun doing drawings and Math! It seems these activities which do need more creativity did not gave them enough fun earlier when the More fun TV was there. Even a game of chess has become something interesting to do nwo, as the atmosphere has changed. Why did this happen? It reminded me a little story I wrote some time ago about Ronnie the Rabbit.
Ronnie the Rabbit - story of a habit.
Ronnie the rabbit had a little habit.
He used to be glued to his phone all day.
He ate with his phone. He played with his phone.
When he hopped or skipped or slept,
still did not part with his phone.
His mom told him to quit, and his dad pressured him to stop.
Yet Ronnie could not as he loved his phone day and night.
One day they went to see Uncle Harry who had a burrow the next village
Over the hill down the meadows off they went and Ronnie with his precious phone hopped along
They came across the stream which had a narrow beam
Ronnie lagged behind everyone else as he stepped the last.
His phone in one hand glued to the screen, halfway down he slipped
Ouch! With a thud he fell off the bridge and drenched his phone and coat,
everyone joined to help him out of water.
His phone did die, he did cry, but he stopped eventually
when they reached Uncle Harry's home.
He played with his cousins Rosy and Tom all day.
And boy! He didn't miss his phone, at the end of the day!
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Dopamine Tolerance
Dopamine is a chemical assoicated with pleasure in the brain. If we arrange activities according to their ability to generate dopamine, we can create a spectrum. Activities like watching YouTube videos and scrolling through social media are at the far right side of this spectrum. These activites are created by geniouses behind the desks, who made is possible for everyone to be hooked and get addicted. Compared to this more productive activities are not that rewarding in the short term, hence do not create those dopamine surges. Hence they are in the left side of the spectrum. Our inherent nature of curiosity to gain new information is so addictive that we would start scrolling program after program, post after post, looking for something to make us laugh and even make us motivated. Activities like reading books and painting are less rewarding, and compared to this are even boring. Netfilx is better. Even when we feel drained, we still cannot turn back to those boring activites again. As we develop tolerance over time.
Tolarance is seen in any addictive behaviour. I learned about tolerance when we first learned about alcohol addiction, as it was one indicator there is addiction. Which means receptors in our body start to adapt to new levels of alcohol and after some time to get the same stimulation person has to increase their consumption, even exceeding harmful levels. This is true for any other addiction. It may be watching TV, or You tube, once our brains are used to higher level of stimulation, low levels of dopamine produced by creative and productive activites no longer are rewarding, as we are at a higher baseline dopamine level, which is needed for pleasure. How can we overcome this tolerance? And revert back to baseline?
Dopamine Detox.
Dopamine Detox is a Cognitive Behavioural therapy model, used as a solution to dopamine tolerance. Idea is to avoid high dopamine releasing activities for a period of time until tolerance cycle is broken and the person is back to normal. Initially it will need lot of willpower and help. And it can lead to a period of "Withdrawal symptoms". Depending on the addiction, these symptoms can be severe. As an example "Alcohol withdrawal" can even lead to seizures and cause brain damage. Hence, in cases of any severe addication, anyone needs help of a professional. For minor addictions, like phone and social media, can give rise to boredom and anxiety. Which can go away with time.
Natural Dopamine Detox
More importantly we all have seen these forms of dopamine detox naturally, in some ways. As an example, when you take a long vacation, you may have been away from social media, long enough for you to enjoy starting a sunset without trying to capture it and post it on instagram. When your TV is broken or the connection is jammed for a period of time, you may have started to cook a meal for yourslef, and enjoyed that more than watching a movie. You may have gone for a meditation retreat, or walked on the beach, without an internet connection. Once you know that you are capable of enjoying silence that it creates, low stimulating activities once again will start to play a major role in satisfiction. However this time with long term benifits. Just like Ronnie the Rabit, who enjoyed afternoon of play, without missing his phone.
In summary
Activites are in a spectrum with their ability to create a dopamine surge. Addictive activities generally create larger domapine release and develop a tolerance overtime.
This leads to higher level of baseline dopamine and a postive feedback leading to more addiction.
To break the cycle, a detox, is used. Meanning avoiding high dopamine activities for a period of time until the baseline is reached.
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