THE RISE OF DOPAMINE SITES (Copy)
Do you find yourself feeling overwhelmed, stressed, anxious or maybe depressed... and then suddenly find yourself scrolling for hours, shopping for clothes you dont need or food to order on a delivery site even though you already have your fridge stocked? Likely your searching for a dopamine surge to self-sooth. To help you feel pleasure, to feel good when you dont. But then comes the after feelings that make you feel worse. The most common I hear is feelings of guilt, shame, self-hatred, regret, anxiety and consequences that are often money and health related. Spending money that is for savings, spending on credit that you don’t have, not in alignment with your values, your financial or health goals or eating food that makes you feel bad in your body. Oush…then all this makes us feel worse and the cycle repeats. We want to reach for that thing that just gave us pleasure, a break from these feelings. wash and repeat.
While there is a lot we can do in therapy to help break this cycle, like learn to self-sooth differently, self compassion, staying in alignment with our values and many many others, the internet has also devised a new way that is very accessible to all. WELCOME DOPAMINE SITES.
These are a HARM REDUCTION approach that started in South Korea to address modern life and the urge for quick dopamine bursts to give us the relief we so need. Harm reduction meets you where you are are at without judgment or telling you to stop this behaviour all together. Its practical strategies that are aimed at minimizing the negative health, social, and sometimes legal consequences of behaviors.
Dopmiane sites fit this model as they mimick the act of scrolling a clothing website or a food menu, clicking something into your cart, and tapping the "place order" button that is enough to elicit the same sense of satisfaction that comes with ordering clothes, shoes, takeout. BUT without the guilt, shame, regret, anxiety and financial health cost that often come with trying to self-sooth through shopping.
Some Options for you to try next time you notice the urge:
https://mysmokebreak.ca/about-smoke-break/
https://imaginair.ca/en/why-imaginair/
Im sure these sites will go and others will pop up, but its a good place to start