--- title: "Silicon Valley’s Nutty New Health Craze: “Dopamine Hacking”" description: "Dopamine Fasting We’ve become increasingly obsessed with consuming media, riding a dopamine high — that hormonal stuff that makes us feel rewarded and motivated. The average American spends most of their waking life watching TV, infinitely scrolling through their Instagram feeds, or mindlessly staring at their work computer. But San Francisco-based psychiatrist Cameron Sepah has […]" date: "2019-10-03" modified: "2019-10-07" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/dopamine-hacking-silicon-valley-trend" categories: - "Cybersecurity" - "Future Society" - "Hacking" - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "addiction" - "device addiction" - "technology addiction" --- # Silicon Valley’s Nutty New Health Craze: “Dopamine Hacking” ![This Silicon-Valley based psychiatrist wants people to take a break from over-stimulation through "dopamine hacking." Some have already taken it too far.]() *\Image: Image via NeedPix/Victor Tangermann\* You know when you scroll social media, and it just feels good? You might be riding a dopamine high — that hormonal rush that makes us feel rewarded and motivated. The average American spends [most of their waking life]() watching TV, infinitely scrolling through their Instagram feeds, or mindlessly staring at their work computer. That brings us to San Francisco professor of psychiatry Cameron Sepah. His solution to tech addiction: "dopamine hacking," [*Business Insider* reports](). The idea is to provide "a structure to limit or compartmentalize in a way that allows your brain to reset a bit," he told the publication. It works exactly the way you'd expect: by spending some time away from screens and just generally taking it easy. For instance, choosing to read a book instead of raging out on Twitter. That's probably not bad advice. But as with many ideas that circulate Silicon Valley, some are taking Sepah's idea to a troubling extreme. In a now-viral tweet from Tuesday, Mountain View, California-based Twitter user Janey Muñoz wrote: "today was my first day in SF since moving here, and I ran into someone from my YC batch who told me he was on a “dopamine fast” and thus had to cut our convo short (lest he acquire too much dopamine)." Sepah argues his idea has been misinterpreted. "It's not a biohack, it's what healthy people do: turning your computer off at night, taking time off on weekends, taking vacations," he told *BI*. *Editor's note: The original version of this article misstated Cameron Sepah's title. It has been updated.* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()