Dopamine detox do's and don'ts.
The wellness trend for when you like things a bit too much.
Hiii Outlouders, Em Vernem here 🙋🏾♀️
I’ve been tasked with giving you a breakdown of a segment Mia, Holly and Jessie talked about on Wednesday’s show — namely, dopamine detoxing.
While I prepare my deep dive notes on the subject, let’s get started with your favourite and mine…
Weekly Reccos 📺 📖 🎧
Here’s what our MMOL hosts suggest you should watch and listen to.
Holly and Mia both want you to watch
Australian Story — Leigh Sales’ interview with Nick Cave on ABC iview. When Nick Cave first came to prominence on the Australian rock scene in the ‘90s, he had a reputation for being a bit of a bad boy, as well as for being unbelievably cool.
But in the past decade, he has suffered unthinkable loss. First, the death of his son Arthur at just 15 years old, followed in 2022 by the death of his eldest son Jethro, aged 31.
Three years after Arthur’s death, the deep-voiced singer started a newsletter, The Red Hand Files. In this, Cave answers questions from his fans and often writes about loss and grief. He invited his readers to do the same and has turned the stories they shared into music and art, and made them part of his live show.
“The reason I loved this interview with Leigh so much is because it brings home the kind of change that can come upon people as things happen to them in their lives.”
— Holly
“You can really see that Nick has found purpose in a way that he probably thought he found in his music… In comparison to that, this is, for him, a more profound sense of purpose.”— Mia
Jessie wants you to listen to
Hysterical podcast by Wondery. A mysterious illness spreads among high school girls in upstate New York who start suffering from spasms, seizures and tics. What is causing their sudden symptoms? Is there something in the water or inside the school? Or are they making it all up? The series examines the outbreak, believed by some to be the most severe case of mass hysteria since the Salem Witch Trials.
“It's about what happens when you stop asking questions, and what it means to say ‘It's all in your head’.”
👍 or 👎 to this week’s reccos? Let us know what you think by clicking the button below.
A guide to dopamine detoxing, as promised.
So then, back to the deep dive…
Dopamine is a naturally produced neurotransmitter that gives you feelings of pleasure in your brain when you do things you enjoy. Think: taking a bite of your favourite dessert, having sex, scrolling on your phone in the morning or having a little gossip sesh at work (or is that just me?).
You might be asking why we would ever deprive ourselves from feelings of pleasure and same. I mean, can’t we just have nice things?
Trouble is, the problem with dopamine-inducing activities is that we have all come to be a little bit too reliant on them.
According to clinical psychologists, dopamine leaves us craving more and more to the point where it feels like we’re filling a bucket with a hole in it.
And to top it all off, when we become overly reliant on dopamine-inducing activities, especially ones that give us instant gratification, it can dull our sensitivity to pleasure.
So, this is where the detoxing comes in. While there’s no actual scientific evidence to support this (it’s more of an internet thing), people are doing it in the hope of decreasing their dependence on receiving immediate dopamine hits. How? Well, the most common practice is by spending less time on their phones.
Now, my entire job requires me to be on the phone so I’ve just been living vicariously through these detoxing stories, and I must say, I’m very jealous.
If you’re interested in trying a dopamine detox, have a read of this first:
'I went on a dopamine cleanse for a week. Here’s what happened.'
And you can listen to the full discussion at the 37:18 mark here.
Oh, you want more?
Was there a topic this week that you weren’t done talking about? Well, lucky for you, we’re continuing the conversation over on Mamamia.com.au. Check these out!
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Snoop Dogg vibing and Tom Cruise skydiving. What went down at the Olympics Closing Ceremony.
What's happening with the It Ends With Us cast? TikTok sleuths have theories.
What you said 📣
I’ve been feeling like we’ve all been in a bit of a silly, goofy mood in the Outlouders Facebook group. This one post from Paula had me on the floor. Thank you, Paula for making my (and I’m sure everyone else’s) entire week ❤️
“For the person who mixed up Adam Sandler and Ben Affleck. I can't see the post anymore but I think I can out do you because I bought tickets to the stage show Wicked because I had heard it was a history of Aus so I thought it was a history of Australia and now I have found out that it is about the Wizard of Oz and I was scared of the Wizard of Oz as a child and have already had to see that performed three times including by my daughter’s drama group. Anyway, I'm sure it will be entertaining.”
Trump is spiraling. I repeat: Trump is spiraling.
I’m going to be honest. I want to be that person in my friendship group who just knows things. The issue is, doomscrolling on TikTok doesn’t get me far.
However, the other day, I was having dinner with my grandparents and they asked me “What’s going on with Donald Trump and Kamala Harris?”
I’m not lying when I tell you that I leapt out of my chair and gave them the lowdown on everything that’s happening which I basically just verbally plagiarised from Tuesday’s subscriber episode.
The results? They were both very proud of me and bragged to their friends about how smart I am. Nailed it.
If you want to be that person in your friendship group, the episode explains everything that’s happening in US politics in a way that’s easy to understand and that I haven’t been able to grasp anywhere else. Give it a listen!
Oh, and if you’re not a Mamamia subscriber yet, jump on board! Tap the link below.
Sorry, we didn’t hear you over us being ✨TikTok famous ✨
ICYMI, Mia, Holly and Jessie are on Tok. Yes, they’re a bit confused and don’t really understand some of the trends we’re making them do. But, because they’re good sports, they’ve really embraced the Gen Z way.
Take a look at some of the stuff we’ve made encouraged them to do:
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And, Jessie’s friend who lives in New York City, sent her this message!
If you have a TikTok account, be like this rando on the commute home from Times Square and give us a follow!
Also, just for you, I spent way too much time analysing that image and I think this was the TikTok they were watching. I’m not sure what to do with this information so please just watch it so my manager doesn’t think I was watching TikToks on company time for my own amusement (even though that’s definitely what I was doing — shh! 🤫).
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