[00:00] Welcome back to the Focus B show. This is Katie Sudddhart here aka the focus b. And on this show, I interview high performers and leaders around the world to discover their secrets on peak performance, productivity, mindfulness, and leadership. So if you want to take your performance and your leadership to the next level, then you're in the right place. Listen up and connect with the magic.
[00:36] Welcome to a brand new episode of the Focus B show. Today's topic is dopamine detox. Dr. Cameron Sepa, a psychiatrist from California, coined the term Dopamine detox, also known as Dopamine fast. It is based on CBT cognitive Behavioral therapy, and the idea is to refrain from the usage of certain stimuli. The concept is that by refraining from this usage, we become less dependent on it, more balanced and more centered. And today I'll be discussing how the science behind this works, if it's true or false, or how to interpret it, and what sort of results you can expect if you do a Dopamine Detox. First, let's look at the six categories that Cameron Sipper distinguishes in terms of Dopamine Detox. So the six types of behavior are number one, emotional eating. Number two, gaming internet usage. I think we would also include phone and social media in that category. Number three, gambling and shopping. Number four, **** and masturbation. Number five, thrill and novelty seeking. And number six, recreational drugs. So these are the six main categories that Cameron Sipad distinguishes in terms of doing a Dopamine Detox. The first thing to understand about Dopamine Detox is that during this phase of reducing our dependency on the stimuli, we aren't actually reducing our dopamine. This doesn't affect our dopamine level, but it can change our behavior. Though this term is quite misleading, there's a lot of different comments and articles on the Internet that confirm that this doesn't actually affect our neurotransmitter dopamine that is responsible for the link with the rewards in our life and is more based around motivation than around pleasure. So there's a lot of misconceptions when it comes to dopamine. However, it is true that if you practice abstaining or refraining from many of these stimuli for a week, a weekend, even a month, this will help you to be more balanced, to take back control of your life. This is the name that a lot of YouTubers use to promote Dopamine Detox, and it will help you to be more balanced. The idea is really not a new one. It's an old concept. It's resting and taking a break. Now, maybe this doesn't sound as exciting as Dopamine Detox or Dopamine Fasting, but really you're allowing yourself to take a break from patterns of behaviors that you want to change. And this will probably alter the way you function and it will raise your awareness of these behaviors. For example, let's say that for a whole week you want to refrain from using social media. Now, every time you have the impulse to pull out your phone to check Instagram or you're on your computer and you want to quickly click through Twitter or you want to answer a LinkedIn message. Every time you have that thought and that impulse, you will remember that you're doing your Dopamine Detox week. If you still want to call it Dopamine Detox or social media unpugging and you'll stop. And this will help you to be a lot more mindful and a lot more aware of how often you have the urge to do this, what triggers the urge to check social media. And you will practice willpower of not checking it. Which then means that when your detox week is finished, you'll probably be a lot more mindful when using social media. So this is how it works essentially. You just choose a weekend a week. You can go on holiday, you can do it in your own home. Also the advantage if you're doing it in your home is it will help you to rewire some of your patterns of behavior all while being in the same place. The risk when going away somewhere to do this is that you will associate the break with this different location. And when you come back to your home, you will use the same behavior as before. So by taking a weekend a week and refraining abstaining or reducing certain behaviors, like I mentioned, it will help you to be a lot more mindful and aware. What triggers these behaviors, how often you have the urge to do it and it will rewire your behavior, especially if you do this regularly. So if every single Sunday you don't check your phone all day, then during the week you'll be so much more mindful because for a whole day you will have changed the way you function. So I feel that although the term Dopamine detox is misleading, as in it doesn't actually affect our dopamine, it does affect our behavior. And it can really help us, it can really help you to have a new way of functioning, a new way of living with these different concepts, with these different stimuli and not be so dependent on them. I feel that the real beauty behind this, maybe the reason it's gone viral, this term of Dopamine detox and dopamine fasting is because we are in a society where there is a strong addiction, especially to technological devices and there's such an ease of access that we don't often refrain from using it. And we become dependent either on the technological devices or on them for sources of pleasure and stimulation. And by taking a day, a week, a month away from these regularly, it will help us to refrain from using them on a daily basis and from being a lot more aware and a lot more mindful when we do use them. So this is the truth behind Dopamine detox.
[07:05] It doesn't actually affect our dopamine level.
[07:08] It's really all about taking a break unplugging and refraining from the usage of certain stimuli, and this will lead you to be more balanced and more mindful when you want to use these stimuli. Again, it's not a very difficult concept. It's a very fancy name, but the idea of taking a break, I think, is one we can all relate to, and it is extremely powerful in terms of changing maybe these addictive behaviors, addictions or behaviors that we overindulge in and that we want to modify. I hope that you've enjoyed today's episode. Please subscribe to my YouTube channel or write a review and please let me know in the comments what was most useful for you. Wishing you a wonderful day.
[07:59] Thank you so much for tuning in today to the Focus V show. I would absolutely love to hear your feedback. So let me know in an Apple review or YouTube comment what was most valuable for you, and feel free to share this episode with a friend or a family member. Wishing you a wonderful, magical and focused day ahead.