The Dopamine Dilemma

Do you remember when there wasn’t such a thing as non-stop news? When you didn’t feel you had a take a side on every social issue at any given moment? When you didn’t have to battle your dependance on social media, like reels, shorts, and trends? When our source of news was simply the newspaper and turning the dial to the next news station, while acrobatically trying to get the bunny ears to sit just right so that you could actually tune in?

But now, here we are. The things we tried so desperately to watch by standing in a certain position, next to the TV so as to not lose connection, is now at our fingertips. Anywhere we want. All of it. Anytime.

I’m sure you’ve heard of dopamine, but maybe not as it relates to yourself. We often think of dopamine as something only drug addicts deal with, like getting certain “hits” of it through a drug, and becoming addicted to those surge of “feel good” feelings. But we all have dopamine in us – it’s a neurotransmitter (a message sender, as I like to call it), where it sends messages of pleasure and motivation, causing good feelings that you want to keep producing over and over again. For instance, think of dogs. If you teach a dog how do a trick, you often give it a treat. Well, if you keep doing that, it’s going to want to do it more and more – the reward system – feeling of pleasure – is kicking into gear.

Things like sleep, the sun, food, music, and exercise, can cause dopamine levels to increase, but now, reels, shorts, and all the little “hits” we can get off social media, are adding to that list. All those likes and comments on posts, are like dopamine hits, and we want to keep coming back for more. Same with reels. We like one we watch, and immediately, another one pops up, and oh, we need to watch that one too – the “just one more” mentality is created. Before you know it, you are 30 minutes into watching 1 minute reels.

So why are reels so addictive? Or any social media for that matter?

Because there is no end – that in itself creates a dopamine hit. Algorithms learn what you like and give you more. Something quick doesn’t give you time to think about the repercussions. It doesn’t take effort – swiping a finger doesn’t make you exhausted, so why stop? Nothing physical is telling you enough is enough. When you come across a boring video, you just wait for the next one – the next big hit.

And so what’s the result? As a culture, society, and as individuals, we are creating in ourselves shorter attention spans. We desire quick rewards instead of those that may last longer, but now take more work. We see things we have to work for as boring and too much work, causing laziness and apathy. Also these “hits” create impulsive decision making. One more scroll – one more purchase. All in hopes of creating that maximum benefit.

Social media is addicting, isn’t it? It is creating in us a mentality that “just one more” won’t hurt. But before we know it, we lose patience for the things that may actually take some time. We lose patience with the people around us. We lose patience for the things that really matter. Like spending time with family. Relationships. Work. Chores. Even our spiritual lives. We can’t grow our spiritual lives simply by watching reels. We lose patience with God because we aren’t getting what we want, when we want it. So we go back to our phones and scrolling. You see the addictive power social media has?

So what’s the answer?

I don’t have the perfect answer. But what I do know is that the Bible speaks into every issue we come across for the modern day. For instance…

Ephesians 5:15-16 says: Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise,  making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. How are we as Christians, making the most of every opportunity? I am not saying all reels are evil, but how is the choice to watch 30 minutes of reels or scroll endlessly, help or hinder? I can’t answer that for anyone, but only for myself. And for me, I do know I can get caught up in this as well! Is it the best use of my time? Nope! I can spend “x” amount of minutes scrolling, but did I spend that much, if not more time in my Bible?

Also, Psalm 101:3a states, I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. Whew, I don’t know about you, but that is a challenge. What am I setting before my eyes, on a daily basis, that is worthless? What do I set my eyes on that doesn’t offer eternal hope and satisfaction? Guilty as charged.

I am not saying we should throw our phones out. I’m not saying to never watch a reel again! What I am saying is we need to think about how we are living our lives. What examples are we setting for our kids? What are we allowing them to do, that is maybe a little cringeworthy if we start to think about it? What are we allowing them to do now, that will affect them in the future? What are WE doing now, that will affect US in the future?

It comes down to this: is our every decision God-glorifying and God-honoring? It’s not some legalistic relationship, but our desire, as we are in relationship with a holy God, is to partner with Him in His Kingdom and purposes. How best can we do that?

Now, let’s go live that out with the daily choices we make!