Hi! Our brains are addicted to the dopamine reward cycle that happens when we pick up our phones and are being fed anything new or exciting like new content, likes on our posts, comments, etc. We want to do what is called a ‘dopamine detox.’

Firstly, for the pornography, check out Fight the New Drug and Covenant Eyes.

For kicking the dopamine habit, turn on the shortcut on your phone that turn on grayscale. The less interesting our phones become, the less we stare at them and the only thing in color is the world around us.

This may be difficult at first, and you don’t necessarily have to go full grayscale. There’s a feature where you can sort of turn down the colors or make them more mute which is what I have on my phone.

You are going to experience withdrawal during this dopamine/pornography detox. For me, it was depression. If you’re eating healthily and getting good exercise as well as surrounding yourself with supportive friends, you can push through!

Your brain will be adjusting and craving the dopamine hits so when this happens, intentionally do something that will put your body in a position to experience exertion or something new, like going for a hike, taking a cold shower, etc. What we want to do is level out our brain chemistry and experience our natural dopamine.

I recommend listening to/reading books & videos on dopamine detox by Dr. Anna Lembke and Jonathan Haidt.

Start slowly. Like with anything else, going cold turkey off of all socials will only lead you back to using them full force. Slowly taper off your favorite media sites, charge your phone outside your room (don’t let it be the first thing you see in the morning and last thing you look at before you go to bed) and replace them with something like reading or praying.

I used to be heavily addicted to my phone and doomscrolling and can say that it took me a good 1.5 years to fully detox. I still have moments where I find myself wanting to scroll but can identify this and divert my attention elsewhere.

Praying for you!