Cheap Dopamine?

  •   Tue, Jun 23 2026
  •   By Ashton D'Silva

June 23, 2026

Well, if you read the title and started wondering if it were about a drug, you are wrong.

Recently, when I had gone to a friend’s place, I noticed a small boy aged about 7-8 years casually playing a car game on his mom’s phone. His mom had given him her phone so that he could silently play without bothering her. He was so engrossed in his game, that when I asked him if he wanted to play cricket with me, he gave me a disinterested nod in a flash.

That got me thinking: How could a small boy dismiss the idea of playing cricket so casually? I still remember when I was a kid, the slightest thought of cricket would send me searching for my bat and ball. We would race towards the bat in order to bat first and would continue playing until every ounce of energy had left our bodies.

So what’s really changed now? Why are kids these days so engrossed in their phones? As usual, I tried digging deeper into the issue. The more I read, the more I encountered a rather common link. The root cause of all this was a rather uncommon word, dopamine.

You might be wondering if dopamine is a drug, because it definitely sounds like one. But it isn’t. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter (a chemical messenger in the brain) that helps regulate motivation, reward, learning and the drive to seek and repeat rewarding experiences. In simple words, dopamine is a brain chemical that makes you want to do something again because it feels rewarding. 

For instance, when you eat a tasty pizza, dopamine says: That was nice, remember this. Or, when you get a message notification, dopamine says: Something exciting must be waiting for you, check it!

At this point, you might be wondering, if Dopamine is linked to pleasant experiences and the body’s reward system, shouldn’t that make Dopamine a good thing?

Well, the issue here isn’t really dopamine. The issue is how you get dopamine. There are two ways to get dopamine, one way is to get it the hard way and another, the easy way. Hard way includes activities like reading books, exercising, going for a run etc.

Easy way includes activities like scrolling social media, eating junk food, checking messages repeatedly etc.

Real problems arise when our brains get addicted to the short way of receiving dopamine. The brain starts thinking, “If I am getting dopamine so easily, why should I go the extra mile to get it the hard way”. Over a period of time, our brain finds it difficult to do certain slower activities like practicing an instrument/playing cricket because they don’t give you instant dopamine. Especially amongst kids, this leads to shorter attention spans and reduced patience.

Most kids of the current generation are just not motivated enough to seek dopamine the hard way. They would rather scroll through a 100 reels than do something that provides them delayed gratification. A lot of adults too, are falling prey to instant dopamine these days.

A common pattern that I have observed amongst people today is that we can’t tolerate boredom. We just can’t sit without having our brains stimulated every second. I have seen a lot of people pulling out their phones at every millisecond of an opportunity. Waiting in line? Let’s pull out our phones. Having meals? Let’s watch some reels. A short break? Let’s open Instagram. In fact, I am guilty of it myself.

One way to escape the ill-effects of instant dopamine is to do activities that require effort, consistently. It can be exercising, learning a new language, reading, going for a run, cooking etc. 

Another way is to simply not do anything. I know this might sound a little strange, but yes, that’s sometimes the best way. Sometimes you really need to try doing nothing for a few minutes. And when your mind wanders, it often is a good starting point for creativity.

A third way is to switch off unnecessary notifications. You might have enabled notifications from a whole ton of apps that you don’t necessarily require. Switch them off! When you are studying or working, keep your mobile phones away or face-down. This will ensure that you don’t get distracted unnecessarily.

I know this isn’t easy, even I am a work in progress. If we put consistent efforts into ensuring that we embrace boredom and also readily accept delayed gratification more often, we surely can escape the trap of instant dopamine!

 

 

 
By Ashton D'Silva
Ashton D'Silva is a health and fitness enthusiast. He is working as a software engineer based out of Gurpura-Kaikamba, Mangaluru.
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Comment on this article

  • Rita, Germany

    Tue, Jun 23 2026

    Hallo dear young man ,you are so right with your thinking .Am too has written about this dopamine and observed this and feel very sad.First of all Parents practice this and kids too find it very good .Once in hand they forget the world around them.Starts with childhood.As I saw first time my family member fed the child giving the phone inhand child never knew what is being fed .simply swallowed.Thereafter only feeding with phone.It took a long time to overcome my shock.No talk no conversation ,whether good or not child never knew what is being fed. one should talk with child when being fed or conversation between two is good for both sides to bind each other.Am sure in future a computer may feed child istead of mum or family members.Better it is not with adults too.Husband and wife sit together and send messages to each other instead of talking? is it new zeit?Find it good you wrote this ,Hope will hear from you in future too.

  • Royston, Mangalore/Mumbai

    Tue, Jun 23 2026

    A topic that needs everyone's attention. Nice article and a good work too.

  • Rohan, Mangalore

    Tue, Jun 23 2026

    Excellent article Ashton very very relevant and important article


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