Dopamine detox and ADHD
Quiet Wall ·
Why the dopamine detox comes up so often in ADHD communities, what people with ADHD describe doing instead of a strict detox, and what it is not.
Why it comes up so often
ADHD is often talked about in terms of dopamine, so the dopamine detox gets discussed in ADHD communities more than almost anywhere else. People ask whether a detox would help, whether it would make things worse, and what to do instead.
This page is not medical advice, and nothing on it is a treatment. It describes the ideas that come up, and where they come from.
What the dopamine detox is, briefly
A planned break from the things you reach for without deciding to, phones above all. It began in 2019 as dopamine fasting, and its own author was clear that it was never about lowering dopamine itself. It is about a habit, and taking it away for a while. There is more on that on dopamine detox.
The idea that came out of ADHD communities
The best-known alternative is the dopamine menu: a written list of things you enjoy, laid out in courses, to pick from instead of the phone. It comes from the ADHD coach Eric Tivers and reached a wide audience in 2020 through a video on Jessica McCabe's How to ADHD channel.
It is close to the opposite of a strict detox. A detox takes things away. A menu adds options, so that the phone is not the only thing within reach of the moment.
Other ideas that come up
- short, regular breaks instead of one long, strict one
- structure from outside: a timer, the phone in another room, an app that adds a pause before an app opens
- starting with the one habit that costs the most, rather than all of them at once
- writing the plan down, so the decision does not have to be made again in the moment
What it is not
A dopamine detox is not a treatment for ADHD, and neither is a menu. If ADHD is getting in the way of work, sleep or the people around you, a doctor is the right person to talk to. Any decision about medication or therapy belongs there, not on a page like this one.
Ten minutes, with structure from outside
Quiet Wall is a timer and nothing else. A reminder arrives at a time you chose, you tap once, the phone goes across the room, and a sound tells you when the ten minutes are up. There is no technique to remember and nothing to decide while it runs.
Does a dopamine detox help with ADHD?
It is not a treatment for ADHD. Many people in ADHD communities use a dopamine menu instead, and a doctor is the right person for anything to do with treatment.
Read on
- Dopamine menu: what it is, and a shorter one — A dopamine menu is a list of things to reach for instead of the phone. Where the idea comes from, how to write one, and the item most menus leave out.
- How long does a dopamine detox take? — Seven days, thirty days, a weekend: how long a dopamine detox is supposed to take, where those numbers come from, and why ten minutes counts.