I Did Dopamine Detox for 2 Years, Here's What Happened …

Nowadays, when people see me, their first impression is that I’m very disciplined. I wake up at the same time every day, I weigh my food, I work out 6 days a week, I save most of my money, I don’t drink, I don’t go out, and I don’t use social media.

But what people don’t know is that it wasn’t always like this. My life used to be chaotic, unpredictable, and filled with cheap dopamine.

That’s why, two years ago, I decided that it had to stop, because that wasn’t the life I wanted for myself. So, I started what people call a Dopamine Detox.

I essentially cut out all the activities that gave me instant gratification but held me back in the long run—things like video games, nights out, and Netflix binging.

Since then, my life has drastically changed, and here’s my experience of it.

Dopamine Detox

By Dopamine Detox, I mean an extended period where you cut down on activities that are highly dopaminergic - meaning they bring a strong sense of pleasure and satisfaction when you engage in them.

Whether it’s scrolling on social media, playing video games, binge-watching Netflix, or smoking, these actions are highly stimulating and instantly rewarding.

And that’s the problem. When dopamine is so easily accessible, your brain learns to crave instant gratification, becoming more and more impatient and addicted. The more you engage in these cheap dopamine traps, the harder it becomes to break free.

My dopamine detox took several months. I tackled one source of cheap dopamine at a time until I had eliminated all the things that were holding me back.

I started with video games, then stopped social drinking and nights out. After that, I cut out Netflix, social media, and so on.

And to help you prepare for your own journey, I want to share my experience with this process—so you can set yourself up for success and know what to realistically expect.

Lost My Friends (1st month)

The very first thing that happened when I decided to go on a dopamine detox was that I lost most of my friends. I felt lost, alone, and doubted my decision every single day for months.

In January 2023, I chose to stop going out after realizing I never truly enjoyed it. I had been forcing myself to do it because I thought it was expected of me.

As a guy in his twenties, I believed I had to be social and outgoing, but long nights out had never been my thing. Alcohol had always felt like a poison to me.

But the truth is, I was terrified. I was afraid that if I stopped going out, I’d lose my friends, my entire social circle - and that’s exactly what happened.

Most of my friends would gather after work or school in bars, reminiscing about old times. And alcohol was a condition for those nights. If you weren’t drinking, you weren’t really part of the party - you were the outcast.

I remember one night in particular. I was standing outside a bar, holding a glass, watching the bubbles rise in it. I was supposed to be having fun, but deep down, I realized I hated it. I hated the idea that I was wasting my potential and destroying my neurons.

In reality, all I really wanted was to wake up early the next day, hit the gym, and get my life in order. But instead, I was stuck—pretending to enjoy myself.

And yet, sometimes I did have fun—because I loved my friends. At the end of the day, it had always been my choice to go out and to engage in those activities.

But there was always that little voice inside me telling me that this, was not meant for me. That this wasn’t what I wanted.

And if you understand what I’m talking about, if you’re going through something similar, there’s one thing you need to know: You should never feel pressured to drink or go out just because you’re young and that you’re supposed to be enjoying

If your definition of life is different from the norm, you have to follow it. In the end, there’s no real choice. Either you live the way you want to live, or you regret not doing it.

Because the problem with alcohol is that it’s one of the cheapest sources of dopamine out there. It makes you euphoric, content, and laughing one night—only to leave you completely drained and depressed the next day.

And while social circles are important, and belonging to a group is essential for your well-being, being in the wrong group can be destructive.

So, I stopped going out. I did a full 180—no alcohol, no staying up past midnight, and never again letting myself feel pressured into doing something I didn’t want to do.

I lost all my friends. But at the same time, I felt relieved, because for the first time in my life, I was in control. Not dopamine. Not social expectations. Just me.

I didn’t know it then, but this was the first real step in taking control of my life. And it opened doors that would later reshape everything.

But this process does come at a cost. You have to be ready for it. Expect tears. Expect hard conversations. Expect broken relationships.

Because when you take a different path and choose not to conform, it sends a message to the people around you, it tells them that you’re evolving and not everyone will come with you.

I Had an Existential Crisis (2-6 months)

When you don’t have anything to distract yourself with, the thing that becomes most present is your thoughts. Thoughts that resurface into your consciousness—things you’ve been avoiding with fast dopamine.

After I stopped going out and spending late nights with friends, I started prioritizing my sleep and productivity.

At that point, I’d go to bed when most people were having dinner and wake up around 5 AM, starting my day before the world even woke up.

The first thing I’d do was go for a walk before sunrise, that’s when my brain would start throwing all these different questions at me, the ones I had spent years trying to escape.

I needed a plan. I didn’t know what to do with my life or which career to pursue after university. And I started dangerously believing that the way out was to build my own business and somehow become a millionaire overnight.

And so, a few months into my dopamine detox, I found myself in an existential crisis. One that, in hindsight, needed to happen.

I believe that, before this episode, I had spent most of my life on autopilot, following what society expected of me and what others told me was the “right” path.

But the problem was, in the back of my mind, I always had unanswered questions. Questions I had buried under distractions. And when you ignore those thoughts for long enough, when you keep numbing them with dopamine, they don’t go away. They grow bigger.

I’m convinced that what happened to me there is what happens to a lot of people, only much later in life, when they suddenly realize that a huge chunk of their time is gone, and all they’ve done is scroll their phone, drink and dance, work, and watch TV.

At the core of it, human beings are searching for meaning. And numbing yourself with dopamine just to get through the day won’t bring you any closer to discovering what you’re truly meant to do.

That’s why you need to have an existential crisis at some point. Mine happened at 5 AM, every morning, for months. Just me and my brain, wondering what I wanted to do with my life.

Because as soon as you step out of your routine and start fixing your dopamine, you’re forced to confront your reality. And that hurts. It’s uncomfortable. Your brain will desperately try to pull you back into old habits, into familiar distractions. But you have to resist. You have to sit with yourself and face it.

I’m convinced this is why most people never go through this process as they don’t want to face what’s buried in their minds.

In my opinion, this is what everyone should know about reinventing themselves, it’s not going to be pretty, you’re going to struggle and hate it but it lead to something greater if you make it to the other-side.

Re-Discovering Life (6-12 Months)

The funny thing is that once you cut out all the distractions and cheap dopamine, you’re left with life. Real, simple life.

You’re left with looking at the blue sky instead of staring at a screen, reading a book in bed instead of drinking at someone’s house, and walking outside instead of jumping up and down in a dark room full of people.

As my brain returned to a more natural way of operating, I started re-discovering life. What happens is that you begin to see everything with fresh eyes, even things that you did not notice before.

I’d never expect to enjoy the smallest things, reading or just walking outside. But when high surges of dopamine aren’t constantly flooding your system, your brain has enough to go around. And suddenly, the little things feel meaningful again.

You start looking at people differently too. You notice their constant need for stimulation, walking while glued to their phones, vaping at every opportunity.

By then after the 6 months threshold, you feel lighter. It even feels like you have more time. Of course, you gain back the hours you used to spend on screens, but beyond that, you start experiencing time differently.

It’s like your brain is completely different, it’s operating at a different pace and not even focusing on the same things anymore.

You don’t have this constant fatigue, brain fog and feeling like you’re only using 10% of your brain capacity anymore. You wake up and you feel present, you feel in control of your movements and you make infinitely better decisions.

For me, the gym was what helped me build structure. It taught me discipline, regulated my sleep, and forced me to cook healthy meals for myself. Walking was another big one. It slowed me down and taught me to enjoy taking my time.

A huge difference in living without cheap dopamine is that you start enjoying doing hard things. Your brain finally has enough dopamine to go around and to push you. Because why would it motivate you to lift heavy weights and sweat when it can get the same dopamine hit from TikTok?

Now there’s a reality, if you choose to go on a dopamine detox, you will feel worse before you feel better. You have to go through a rough patch while your brain resets its dopamine levels and relearns how to function normally.

But after a few weeks of feeling like you’ve been deprived of everything that once brought you joy, you’ll start finding joy elsewhere. In things that actually move you forward. In things that don’t keep you stuck on the couch.

And if you think that you want to start this journey with learning self-discipline, going to the gym and building your physique, then you can take a look at Fitness Autonomy, here.

A New Way Of Living (12 Months +)

After a year of dopamine detox, which, at this point, isn’t really a detox but a new way of living—your life is significantly better.

You make better decisions in every area of life. Your relationships, your health, your career. Everything improves because your brain is no longer being hacked by constant dopamine hits.

You can’t have clarity or a strong sense of direction if your mind and body are always chasing quick pleasure. Once I fully understood that, I promised myself I would never go back to my old ways.

When you go through this process and strip away instant gratification, it feels like you finally have control. You’re no longer being dragged through life by impulse and bad decisions. You are the one directing your own story instead of your environment deciding for you.

After twelve months of dopamine detox which for me meant no drinking, no video games, no social media (except Youtube), no eating out. I completely reinvented your life. And in the process I learned a lot about what I want and expect for myself.

A dopamine detox in my opinion is necessary. You free up an insane amount of resources: attention, energy, time, and willpower. And once you do that, you unlock all the tools you need to build better habits.

That’s how today, I can work full-time, train six days a week, read four books a month, write for an hour a day, sleep eight hours a night, and still feel better than I ever have before.

If you decide to give this a try, you’ll finally have the ability to work on your goals and true aspirations. Because only without constant stimulation fogging up your mind, your brain can function at its full capacity.

Self-improvement is about getting closer to the best version of yourself. And in my opinion, this is the first step.

Dopamine detox is what allows you to learn new skills, build healthy habits, and actually change your life. Realistically, I think the whole process takes about a year or two. But no one tells you that because it sounds like too much work.

Now that it’s been two years, if I had to do it all over again, I would. Cutting down on shallow dopamine sources was one of the best decisions of my life.

I hope this helps. Trust the process.