Why ‘dopamine fasting’ is the wellness world’s biggest illusion

By the time you reach the end of this paragraph, your brain will have likely itched for distraction—a message, a notification, a quick scroll, anything to fracture the stillness. In an economy powered by attention, stillness has become radical.

Despite its monkish name, dopamine fasting is not about deprivation. It is about restraint, a subtler and more deliberate form of rebellion. Coined by psychologist Cameron Sepah, the term refers to intentionally stepping back from high-stimulation behaviours such as compulsive scrolling, binge-watching, hyper-palatable food, and impulse shopping, in order to recalibrate the brain’s reward circuitry. The goal is not to starve pleasure, but to restore it.

The myth of the ‘dopamine reset’

At the heart of dopamine fasting lies the seductive promise of a neurological reboot, a chance to “reset” a brain overwhelmed by constant stimulation. But according to neuroscientists and psychiatrists, this idea is fundamentally flawed.

“Dopamine fasting is often described as a neurological ‘reset,’ but this framing is misleading,” explains Sandhya Sharma, psychologist at Dharamshila Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, Delhi. “Dopamine is not depleted or switched off by avoiding stimulation. It is continuously produced and regulated by the brain and is involved in many basic functions, not just pleasure or reward.”

Dopamine is better understood as a messenger chemical responsible for motivation, learning, movement, and anticipation, rather than a pleasure switch that can be turned off and on at will.

Dr Rahul Chandhok, senior consultant and head of psychiatry at Artemis Lite NFC, New Delhi, echoes this view. “Most of the time, the idea of resetting dopamine is misunderstood. Dopamine is not a chemical that makes you feel good and then goes away or needs to be reset. It sends messages that help with motivation, learning, and predicting rewards, and it works all the time. The brain is far more complicated than just a switch that turns rewards on and off.”

So what actually happens when someone undertakes a dopamine fast?

“What changes is behaviour, not brain chemistry,” Sharma clarifies. “By reducing exposure to highly stimulating activities, attention is redirected, and habitual patterns are interrupted. Some people experience increased sensitivity to ordinary experiences, which they interpret as mental clarity.”

In other words, the calm many report is less about chemical rebalancing and more about reducing cognitive overload.

Why it can feel transformational

Despite the shaky neurological premise, many who practice dopamine fasting report feeling calmer, clearer, and more focused. According to experts, this experience is largely rooted in reduced cognitive load.

“Most of the benefits can be attributed to diminished distraction rather than any measurable change in brain chemistry,” says Dr Chandhok. “Taking a break from phones, social media, and constant entertainment reduces cognitive overload and allows the brain to focus on one thing at a time. This creates a sense of calm and control.”

Sharma adds that short-term discomfort often precedes this clarity. “Boredom, restlessness, and irritation are common when stimulation is abruptly reduced. Over time, some people experience increased emotional awareness and improved concentration—not because dopamine levels change, but because mental noise decreases.”

When wellness turns into control

All else aside, psychologists warn that dopamine fasting carries hidden emotional risks too—particularly when pleasure is framed as something harmful or indulgent.

“Yes, this risk is increasingly recognised,” says Sharma. “When pleasure is framed as something to be avoided or earned, guilt around rest and enjoyment is created. Some interpretations promote extreme self-discipline as moral superiority, which can fuel obsessive control over food, entertainment, and social connection.”

This rigid mindset can be especially harmful for individuals prone to anxiety, perfectionism, or burnout, transforming self-care into another arena of pressure.

Dr Chandhok sees this regularly in clinical settings. “People begin to feel bad for enjoying simple, healthy pleasures—listening to music, eating good food, or relaxing. They worry about ‘bad dopamine.’ This creates constant self-monitoring and anxiety rather than calm.” Over time, this emotional hyper-vigilance can quietly erode mental health.

“Real well-being comes from balance and flexibility,” he adds. “Not from strict rules that make it hard to enjoy everyday life.”

Why tech culture fell for dopamine fasting

Dopamine fasting’s popularity is inseparable from Silicon Valley’s obsession with optimisation, productivity, and biohacking.

“The trend fits neatly into tech culture’s focus on control,” explains Sharma. “In high-performance environments driven by metrics and constant alerts, attention is treated as a scarce resource under threat. Dopamine fasting offers a simple narrative and a sense of agency.”

But there is a deeper irony at play. “Rather than questioning systems designed to hijack attention, responsibility is shifted onto individuals to self-regulate more aggressively,” she says. Instead of interrogating the design of platforms engineered for addiction, dopamine fasting reframes distraction as a personal failure—requiring greater discipline rather than systemic change.

What actually works: a more sustainable path

If dopamine fasting oversimplifies the science, what does research truly support?

The answer is refreshingly unextreme.

“Evidence supports simpler and more sustainable approaches,” says Sharma. “Structured routines, adequate sleep, regular physical activity, mindfulness practices, and selective digital use consistently improve focus and emotional regulation.”

Dr Chandhok agrees. “Setting screen limits, improving sleep, exercising regularly, and creating space for focused work are proven methods. Strong social connections and physical movement play a major role in emotional balance and cognitive clarity.”

Rather than eliminating pleasure, the focus should be on intentional engagement—choosing stimulation consciously rather than compulsively.

“It’s better to learn how to choose pleasure wisely than to try to avoid it,” Chandhok explains. “These methods respect how the brain actually works and support long-term well-being without harsh rules.”

At its core, dopamine fasting reflects a deeper cultural longing: to reclaim stillness, agency, and depth in an overstimulated world. But true clarity may lie not in abstinence, but in recalibrating our relationship with pleasure, rest, and attention.

As Sharma concludes, “Healthy reward is essential for motivation, learning, and emotional balance. It is not something to eliminate.”

In a culture that equates discipline with virtue and productivity with self-worth, perhaps the most radical act is not fasting from pleasure—but learning to experience it without guilt.

Lead image: Unsplash

Also Read: Where India is eating now: The restaurants and cafés making noise

Also Read: The 10 easy work resolutions that will boost your career in 2026