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What I mean with dopamine fasting is not giving in to the urge of a quick dopamine kick for a certain amount of time. Say you feel the urge to play another rou

by TekMol 5y ago

What I mean with dopamine fasting is not giving in to the urge of a quick dopamine kick for a certain amount of time. Say you feel the urge to play another round of a video game. You tell yourself "No, make a break". Now your brain replies "Ok, then let's eat some chocolate". You reply "No, let's not eat chocolate either". Now your brain replies "What? You said take a break from the GAME! Why not chocolate? Ok, then lets drink a coffee". Now you reply "We take a break from dopamine! No game, chocolate, coffee, beer etc! You understand?". Your brain "Damn. Ok. Grumble. Grumble.". Then later in the day: Your Brain: "I feel so good today. I wonder why?"

alpaca128 5y ago
My brain disagrees that it feels good to be dopamine deprived in some areas already and then taking away most of the rest too. I'd say if you manage to pull that off for a few days, let alone weeks as I've seen suggested for dopamine fasting, you didn't have a problem with it in the first place.
guerrilla 5y ago
> a quick dopamine kick I believe you misunderstand how dopamine works.[1] What you're talking about is called self-discipline in English and has value but doesn't need pseudoscience to support it. 1. https://neuwritesd.org/2017/09/28/dopamine-is-not-your-brains-reward-chemical/ https://neuwritesd.org/2017/09/28/dopamine-is-not-your-brain...
- bloqs 5y ago
  This response is like so many others on this topic. "Dopamine fasting" is not a literal or scientific term, its not pseudoscientific either. It merely describes the process (perhaps incorrectly) of imposing some challenge to impulsive behaviours which is a perfectly acceptable way to help break these habitual behaviors, neurologically speaking that is perfectly sound, and consistent with scientific insight into this area. People often misunderstand and apply the overly simplistic "dopamine bad" mentality and think it's somehow about volume of dopamine which is laughably incorrrect for such a complex and nuanced process. But critics can't see the woods for the trees with this one.
  - guerrilla 5y ago
    You missed the point. The person I'm responding to believes dopamine is the brain's reward chemical. It's not.
    - bloqs 5y ago
      Oh, my bad.

by TekMol 5y ago

alpaca128 5y ago

My brain disagrees that it feels good to be dopamine deprived in some areas already and then taking away most of the rest too. I'd say if you manage to pull that off for a few days, let alone weeks as I've seen suggested for dopamine fasting, you didn't have a problem with it in the first place.

guerrilla 5y ago

> a quick dopamine kick I believe you misunderstand how dopamine works.[1] What you're talking about is called self-discipline in English and has value but doesn't need pseudoscience to support it. 1. https://neuwritesd.org/2017/09/28/dopamine-is-not-your-brains-reward-chemical/ https://neuwritesd.org/2017/09/28/dopamine-is-not-your-brain...

bloqs 5y ago
This response is like so many others on this topic. "Dopamine fasting" is not a literal or scientific term, its not pseudoscientific either. It merely describes the process (perhaps incorrectly) of imposing some challenge to impulsive behaviours which is a perfectly acceptable way to help break these habitual behaviors, neurologically speaking that is perfectly sound, and consistent with scientific insight into this area. People often misunderstand and apply the overly simplistic "dopamine bad" mentality and think it's somehow about volume of dopamine which is laughably incorrrect for such a complex and nuanced process. But critics can't see the woods for the trees with this one.
- guerrilla 5y ago
  You missed the point. The person I'm responding to believes dopamine is the brain's reward chemical. It's not.
  - bloqs 5y ago
    Oh, my bad.