When I started writing this post it was day number one of returning to all and any media. That day, I just gave myself the option and waited to see what felt right. I turned on the TV that morning, tuned to the local news and felt immediately like I hadn’t taken a break at all — not in a negative way. What I was seeing and hearing sounded exactly like what was being broadcasted four weeks prior when I first started my hiatus from the news. (This is the 5th in a series of posts about a biochemical reset that began with a break from coffee and alcohol that you read more about in this first post: 3 Ways You Never Knew That the News Can Cause Pain )

I didn’t miss a damn thing.

This made it really easy to turn off the TV again right away and return to the morning routine that I’d developed over the past month without news.

This anticlimactic return to news reinforced my renewed, more disimpassioned relationship with it. Being reminded of how little of what was being broadcast significantly changed over the 4 weeks, was the antidote that I needed to continue my refreshed relationship with all of it. Turns out there’s no reason for FOMO when there’s no MO.

My hope had been to return to the work of finishing my second book as part of the Everyday Pain Guide project. I did managed to do just that. Completion is still many months away and a bit delayed again but that’s to be expected with running a solo full time gig like mine and squeezing in the writing-publishing on the side.

Things that I notice

I feel less of a pull to things outside of my sphere of control. That’s what the news is isn’t it? Things that are mostly outside of our immediate control. I like to be informed but I can still be informed with less frequent exposure to the news frenzy.

I feel more space and ability to tend to what’s in front of me in the moment rather than fruitlessly fretting about the to-do list items.

I have less distraction from news, coffee and alcohol, but I have lifted restrictions on all three.

Given the chance to re-calibrate, what I know about myself is that I do tend to make — and am again making — good choices. I’m also not judging myself negatively for the choices I make. I think I’m lucky to have the brain biology that I do — without the addiction struggles that are so common. Between fortunate brain biology and healthy habits instilled during childhood, doing these periodic dopamine detoxes is not overly difficult for me.

Dopamine Addiction?

I haven’t yet used the term “dopamine detox” during this post series but that is a big part of what resets like this can be about. Dopamine detox is a relatively new idea and there is no hard science behind it. It’s also a bit of misnomer to be honest, but the idea is to reset the reward sensitivity in the brain and nervous system. That is an important part of what a reset does before new habits can take hold.

To be clear, the idea of “dopamine addiction” is a problem of the privileged. In this age of comfort-electronics, comfort-food, and other comfort-behaviors the brain can become numb to pleasure and it begins to require more and more. Dopamine is one of the pleasure chemicals in the brain. Higher levels can make us feel good but not for long before we need another “hit”. Checking the phone, reaching for sugar and caffeine or alcohol are just a few examples of what can spike dopamine.

You can read more about the dopamine detox fad in this Harvard Health blog from 2020

What I’m actually doing differently now

I’ve returned to coffee but I’m choosing ½ decaf and organic coffee only. No more jitters with the decrease in caffeine. I’m keeping my coffee grounds frozen again which was my original inclination until I heard from coffee aficionados years ago, that the flavor is better when un-refrigerated and kept in a sealed container. But guess what? Coffee can be a histamine trigger for some people (I happen to be one of those people who is sensitive to histamines), but freezing it decreases the histamine content! I will have more to say about histamines in future posts but for now, you can read more about it in this research study published in 2020[1]

I’m reaching for the evening alcohol less frequently and more moderately which, if you’ve ever tried it, you know can result in better sleep and easier mornings.

The TV is back in use to a lesser degree and I haven’t yet returned to talk radio. Surprisingly I’ve realized that my favorite public radio station was the most stressful and distracting (but insidious) influence in my day. So the classical music station is the new fallback. (I’m convinced my tiny sensitive dog Luna also prefers the classical station!)

What’s your relationship with public radio?

Update

It was a little over a week after returning to news exposure that the Russian invasion of Ukraine began and started dominating the news and my social media feeds. I found myself waking to stories about Ukrainian refugees undergoing family separation and untenable wait times to escape their borders for safety. First thing in the morning with my defenses down, these stories bring tears to my eyes. What a terrible way to wake up. These stories are too close to my own family’s legacy. Both my parents experienced family separation and loss during wartime as children. My sister and I grew up in a house informed by their early childhood trauma which has profoundly shaped us — in many ways for which I’m deeply grateful while perhaps also overly sensitive to things like the plight of people in war zones.

Do I question my return to news during this especially unsettling and stressful time? Yes, but it’s also an important time to be reminded of how lucky we are here in the US.

If you are thinking of doing your own body chemistry (and nervous system) reset, don’t miss next week’s post. I’ll go over a checklist of things to help set you up for success.

---

As originally published on medium.com/@yalingliou on March 18th, 2022

---

[1] Comas-Basté O, Sánchez-Pérez S, Veciana-Nogués MT, Latorre-Moratalla M, Vidal-Carou MDC. Histamine Intolerance: The Current State of the Art. Biomolecules. 2020;10(8):1181. Published 2020 Aug 14. doi:10.3390/biom10081181