THE WH ROAD TEST Dopamine Fasting
Most of us know dopamine as the ‘pleasure chemical’ but it’s so much more than that. This neurotransmitter is involved in motivation, memory and even motor function, explains Eugenia Poh, a PhD student researching dopamine at The University of Western Australia (UWA). Its most popular trick, though, is giving out gold stars in the form of a chemical hit, when we perform any action our lizard brains think will keep us alive. Back in the day, that was eating, drinking water and making babies. These days, there are more gold stars available than we), seeing friends (thanks for making it possible, Houseparty), sex (yes, please!) and music, all in the name of resetting dopamine levels to ‘low’. The problem? Not all activities that increase dopamine are also ‘addictive’, says clinical psychologist Dr Chris Mackey. “For addictive behaviours, yes, it’s helpful to learn that you don’t have to have that dopamine hit to function,” he adds. But he admits you don’t have to go on a total fast: “Things like exercise and music – [are] more in balance.” Either way, I’m going to discover it for myself. I’ll go 48 hours without using my phone (for everything), listening to music (my mood pill), seeing friends (I have one), bingeing TV series (my real friends) or having sex (post break-up, it’s just my hand, but she’s developing a cramp).
