Dopamine menus: The feel-good hormone going viral

From feasts to fasting, we weigh in on the new movement obsessed with the happy hormone.  

It was nearly a decade ago when dopamine last truly hit headlines. Dubbed the “Kim Kardashian of neurotransmitters,” it was said to give “instant appeal to listless reporting and editors an excuse to drop some booty on the science pages.” British clinical psychologist Vaughan Bell wrote in the Guardian that it was an addictive feeling that gave instant gratification.  

But during this time, it was a complete serotonin soiree. Shoddy 80s experiments meant serotonin was still all the rage. The general consensus went as follows: high amounts = good for emotional regulation, and low amounts = depression. But this popular myth was quickly debunked, and it was found that low serotonin levels meant you could still be happy – so it must be something else. Bell was right all along.  

Enter dopamine: the neurotransmitter directly involved in reward and response. It provides a pleasant experience when given a pleasant stimulus, modulating our mood via a chemical messenger. It is also anticipatory, meaning we experience levels of happiness before the event has even occurred. It is the ultimate happy hormone.  

With all the facts cleared up, the general population is now chasing dopamine highs at any chance we can get. In fact, you reading this now are doing just that. You get the instant gratification of the online sphere at your fingertips, no waiting, just pure dopamine hits. Our dopamine addiction is strong and is filled up by past times such as social media use, which allows us to laugh and react to videos, messages, and other forms of media almost instantly.  

But now, a culture of mindfulness and self-care is slowly working its way through the fast-paced dopamine landscape. Users are implementing methods of slow dopamine release into their every day, permeating your quick-hit social use to recruit a new method of chasing happiness.  

Host of the podcast ‘Note to Self’ Payton Sartain posted a list of slow dopamine activities that keep her emotionally regulated, which quickly spread to TikTok where thousands upon thousands of creators shared their happy journalling and voila! Dopamine menus were born.  

And it is just as simple as that. It is essentially laid out like a restaurant menu, filled with cheerful primary colours and doodles as a mindful alternative to doom scrolling. It starts with appetisers, which are quick activities that should take around 5-10 minutes. Then we go to entrees which are 45 to more, with the addition of sides that can be completed in multitasking form. And there is always room for dessert on the dopamine menu – the ultimate cherry on top – which is the reward section. This can come in any shape or form, from taking yourself out to a meal to a walk in the park to a pilates class to time with friends to a new film you wanted to watch at the cinema. It is so simple and easy, that you will be stuffed to the brim with dopamine by the time the after-dinner demitasse comes around.  

There is also a small group within the movement encouraging a dopamine detox. They are actively trying to quit dopamine – more specifically, the negative stimulus that releases it. This means things that give you a quick and easy hit should be banished, so you aren’t hooked on the instant gratification of it.  

Feasting on the dopamine menu is a good way to do this, and it must be said that the dopamine detox shouldn’t be taken too literally. It is just encouraging us to reset our reward system and allow time for that slow release to take hold away from overly stimulating activities. It might just be the only detox that allows us to indulge in the things we love.  

With addictive pastimes being filled up by the likes of social media, it is nice to see slow dopamine-fuelled activities back, underpinned by this new culture of mindfulness and self-care permeating.  

Alternatively, there is a small movement trying to quit dopamine – or should we say negative releases of dopamine. Things like TikTok give us a quick and easy hit, and we are now hooked. Taking time off to feast on the dopamine menu means we are resetting our reward system to allow for that slow release to take hold, and letting us sit with our mind away from overly stimulating activities. 

This isn’t to say you should quit socials and quick gratification activities cold turkey. After all, our brains and happy hormones are a complex place to be, and they work differently for everyone. Though this TikTok pseudoscience (arguably) may be oversimplifying things, our dopamine menus ultimately encourage a conversation around positive habits away from social media. So all that’s left to ask is, how will you be dining with your dopamine menu?