Our morning now starts with waking up and looking at the phone screen. Then one notification after another! Many people may spend hours after waking up looking at the phone without being refreshed! Notifications, new news, comments – these immediately bring excitement to us. This feeling of happiness comes to our mind and body, a hormone called ‘dopamine’ is secreted from the brain behind it. Spending my time on social media is like an addiction. Is it possible to get rid of social media addiction? Does it directly have harmful effects on our lives? I will tell about this in today’s feature.
We feel happy when someone comments well on our Facebook post, we feel happy when someone uploads a new picture and so on. Have you noticed, the scrolling we are doing, it becomes like addiction! But what is the way to overcome this addiction? Why is the dopamine hormone coming here? I will try to clear everything today.
What is Dopamine?
Dopamine is a type of neurotransmitter and hormone. It is naturally produced in the human body. Dopamine is the hormone that gives the feeling of happiness and motivation. Dopamine is called ‘feel-good hormone’! Our brains have evolved to adapt a reward system, that is, we seek a reward from doing something to survive. Then he does the next tasks again with the motivation of that reward. It is because of this dopamine that we do countless things in our lives. That is, work and get rewarded! But is dopamine really so good? Let’s see through a small comparison.
What happens if the level is too low?
1) What happens when dopamine is secreted in the right amount? The answer to this question is – we feel very happy, alert, focused and motivated.
2) When dopamine is released less than normal, we feel quite tired and feel sad. No motivation to work. In some cases, memory loss, mood swings , sleep problems, attention disturbances and even sexual need are reduced.
3) When dopamine is released more than usual, people feel more energetic. Want to be sexually active. But a lot of aggression works in behavior. What is called bad mood in straight Bengali.
How is dopamine depleted?
We know what dopamine is, now we try to understand what dopamine rush is. Then it will be easier for us to understand why we need to detox dopamine. When there is a very rapid release of dopamine in our brain in a short period of time for a task, we can call it a dopamine rush. Dopamine rush is caused by any activity, without seeing at a glance –
- The pleasure of winning a forbidden game gives a dopamine rush
- Eating junk food causes a dopamine rush, as it is high in sugar and sugar triggers dopamine.
- Getting likes, comments, shares on social media gives a dopamine rush in no time
- Dopamine rush can be achieved even if adventure or risky activities are successful
What is the side effect?
When dopamine begins to control us, we fall into a loop of addiction and want that event over and over again. For example, in the case of social media, if someone likes and comments on our post, then we get a dopamine rush, as I have already said. Whenever we get such temporary pleasure, we repeat it, this is common human nature. Then again there is a dopamine rush, we keep doing it like this and at some point it becomes an addiction. A large part of the younger generation, however, is in this loop.
When dopamine begins to control us, we fall into a loop of addiction and want that event over and over again. For example, in the case of social media, if someone likes and comments on our post, then we get a dopamine rush, as I have already said. Whenever we get such temporary pleasure, we repeat it, this is common human nature. Then again there is a dopamine rush, we keep doing it like this and at some point it becomes an addiction. A large part of the younger generation, however, is in this loop.
In our workplace, family environment, such behavior can cause turmoil for ourselves and our families. Your productivity decreases. The ability to think about new things decreases. As if life stops in a loop! Also, sometimes a person can’t get rid of this dopamine rush without realizing it, then detox is very helpful. Dopamine detox keeps us away from such addictions and helps us stay mentally healthy.
A dopamine detox is a temporary withdrawal from the things that give you such momentary pleasure. Dopamine detox is simple. Let’s find out now.
1) Identify first what things give you a dopamine rush. For many, junk food, long time social media scrolling, games are the cause of dopamine rush.
2) Dopamine detox can be done in one day, one week, one month. The rule is that the item you wish to distance yourself from cannot be used even once within that specified period. For example, let’s say you want to do a social media detox for 7 days. In that case, the phone or laptop should be kept a little away from your control for 7 days so that you don’t really run away from the notification! Important calls may come, in that case, if it is not possible to keep the mobile away, delete the Facebook , Instagram app.
What to do at this time?
Now social media has left, what to do at this time? You can cook anything you like, read books , do gardening, clean the house, go for a walk outside, give time to family. You will find the best option for you with just a little searching! Just imagine what a great time it will be. At this time you can focus on creative work, your thinking power will increase, you will also get mental relief. This is the main purpose of dopamine detox.
Dopamine can be both a blessing and a curse for us, the difference being how much control we have over our own brains. For those looking to break out of the loop of social media addiction, try Dopamine Detox. Enjoy life in your own way. So far today. stay well.