Yeah, absolutely! It’s called hedonic adaptation when your mind adapts to the “new normal” of whatever is common in your life. You first get married, and you get the rush of excitement from doing something new; a few years down the road, married life is mundane, the same thing every day for most people.

The thing is, we needn’t demonize dopamine for this. And dopamine “detoxes” don’t exist. Just like with keto, and its fatal flaw that there’s always a baseline of glucose/insulin in the blood, there’s always going to be a baseline of dopamine in the brain. You couldn’t survive without these things, so you can’t eliminate them.

Dopamine reaches its maximum, not when we have pleasure but when we have a “maybe” on the table. If there’s a possibility we’ll be denied our promotion at work or get rejected by the woman we have a crush on, dopamine peaks.

I think the problem is these theories are basically just saying “don’t have too much fun because it’ll stop you from having future fun,” which isn’t how dopamine (or hedonic adaptation) work(s). It’s not enjoyment that dulls things, it’s the lack of maybe, existing in our comfort zones for too long a period of time, not challenging ourselves or our surroundings.

Ironically, what’s prescribed by the “dopamine detox” is the opposite of what will actually cure hedonic adaptation. And let’s not forget good ole fashion depression.

I’ve noticed that when people push an alternative health claim, pseudoscience, etc., it’s usually to cover up something embarrassing or undesirable. So they’ve rebranded depression as “dopamine addiction,” and they simultaneously 1. Remove the responsibility from the person with the problem (it’s someone outside forcing it upon you), and 2. Remove the stigma while giving you some way to control it by doing something ultra-simple (that doesn’t work but usually requires you to come back again and again—they need you to keep consuming that content!).

Take any alternative health claim, and this is what it boils down to. It goes something like this:

“Depressed? It’s not your fault! It’s the corporations who are targeting you! The good news is all you have to do is make your bed and remove a few things from your life, and you can fix it! It’s super easy. Just like and subscribe, and I’ll give you all the tips.”

The problem is, curing something like depression is certainly not easy. Otherwise, every depressed person would just do it. But, the promise of an easy fix works so effectively that it makes the people pushing it rich.

As Machiavelli said: “Humankind is so full of hope that the conman will always have a target for his schemes,” paraphrased.

Thanks for reading.
Cheers.