Buzz. Snooze. Repeat. Grab my phone, then fall into a scroll-hole. Each morning begins the same way. As soon as I manage to pry my eyes open, I receive a barrage of emails, Instagram, news, and WhatsApp messages—all before I have even cleaned my teeth. When the screen time reminder pops up, telling me I’ve already used 25 of my allocated 30 minutes for social media, I just press ignore.
Instead of filling up my happiness meter, the endless and incessant scrolling (often done without conscious intent) makes me feel icky and gross...and it happens regularly throughout the rest of my day, too. But could the latest wellness buzz phrase dopamine fasting—which is the idea of eschewing quick happiness hits, found in the likes of notifications, Nutella, and Netflix, in favour of boredom—be the cure needed to ditch my bad habits? Is forcing yourself into mind-numbing nothingness really the key to lowering anxiety, improving your sleep, and experiencing more joy?
Coined in 2019 by the Californian psychiatrist Cameron Sepah, a dopamine fast is the practice of denying yourself gratification. So no music, sugar, sex, and social media, for example, for a set period of time. It is based on the idea that abstaining from external stimuli will reset your happiness baseline, which allows you to ‘feel more’ when the fast has finished. It taps into the theory that in our full-on, tech-orientated world, we have lost the ability to be bored— and it is a skill we ought to be cultivating for our inner peace.
Esta historia es de la edición March - April 2024 de Cosmopolitan India.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición March - April 2024 de Cosmopolitan India.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Is Social Media Really A Free Space?
We're always rooting for self-expression...especially on the internet. But a friendly and important—reminder to proceed with caution.
Are we all Letterboxd-pilled?
Film study grad or not, everyone's a critic now!
Burning bright
Cosmo India speaks to six creators about how they handle the grind and the toll it takes on their bodies and minds.
MATCH POINT: Polyamory & the green-eyed monster
While the concept is still more nascent than normative in India, traditionalists have one big question: what becomes of the jealousy?
Hello, 2024's dating lingo for you
Fresh ways to complicate your life this season.
Listen? You need to STOP making your crush uncomfortable
And yes, you might just be doing it involuntarily.
Fillers on your mind?
Cosmo intern Jia Noor Singh Bhandal's (very) quick and (very) easy take on the cosmetic procedure.
A nifty textbook guide to cleaning your beauty shelfie
Sorry, but it is time to finally throw away your three-year-old dried out mascara.
Hands up if you've been to forgetting apply SPF to these areas
“Raises hand* and instantly reaches for sun protection
Through my lens
Capturing freedom through the power of visual storytelling? These new-gen image-makers are making it happen.