Slow dopamine
No telly til dark
We used to have an understanding that rainy days equated to screen time, a quick dopamine fix, the antithesis of slow dopamine. Not all day, but especially in the winter, when the dusk fell, telly time would begin. That was the rule – no telly till dark. That might seem quite reasonable, but in the depths of our northern winters, the sun can disappear as early as just after 3.30pm. With an 8pm bedtime, and a busy schedule with lots of reasons for a digital babysitter, a full evening of post home-ed TV can be a huge relief for us all.
The end of our March summer
Well, it’s April now, and after several weeks of (surprising) Scottish sunshine, this week’s downpour of rain has been a bit of a culture shock. Here in Scotland we often say, after we’ve had a week or two of sun in spring, “well that’s summer been and gone!”
We have finally got our traditional April showers back. It is welcome – the ground is hard and difficult to prepare for planting season ahead, and our newly planted woodland native trees will be glad of some more native weather. But the telly has not come back out.
The TV went away
Earlier in the year, after a series of decisions and events, we put the telly away. It seemed like the right thing to do. Aside from other difficulties, what had once been a weekend treat had now become a daily occurrence – an AI member of our family shouting in front of our slow dopamine interests, occupying our children’s attention for hours at a time. Now we all had to reposition ourselves and our time for relaxing.
(Don’t you want to watch?)
I have a son who is often happier crafting, playing his violin or concocting in the kitchen than goggle eyes in front of the box. I often felt conflicted that it was easier for me to get my work done if I could find a show he might enjoy. He can often be tempted, but other times he doesn’t always enjoy the effects of the screen. And there are effects – many effects.
Quick and slow dopamine
Jonathon Haidt discusses the effects of screens on young minds, drawing to our attention the persistent overdose of quick dopamine flooding our minds.
Through learning platforms, through social media, or computer games, or TV shows, our minds and the minds of our youth are overwhelmed with dopamine. Good? Or no? After all, dopamine is the ‘happy hormone’…
In this case, similar to insulin resistance caused by a diet persistently high in sugar, with an overload of quick dopamine our minds become dopamine resistant.
Quick dopamine doesn’t mean a short duration. It is more the constant, addictive, consumer element, where people click, watch and swipe for hours on end, until the brain is saturated with dopamine hormone that we become dopamine resistant. We find our usual healthy (slow) dopamine inducing activities boring, seeking that ‘quick’ dopamine rush. The activities that bring us joy and make us feel alive are no longer sufficient for our dopamine levels.
When we tidied the telly
The results of tidying the telly were immediate. We began to talk and realise together aspects of our day with one another. We actively relaxed our minds at the end of the day with conversation, books and music. We were less coiled, sprung, edging towards the end of the day to ‘veg’ – waiting for that flop and that fix of quick and easy dopamine.
And the children…
Likewise with the children – they have projects they are tinkering at before dinner, and pictures to draw, books to read, and games to play after dinner. Slow dopamine through small, self set wins, and fails to problem solve, ideas and skills to build are a normal part of our end of day now with no TV in the snug.
Home education with screen time awareness
We never have included screen time as part of our home education plan. As homeschoolers, we have been able to conduct our education plan with our own choice of resources. For us that has always been very minimal screen time if any. Our choice of education involves books, textbooks, conversation, activities, experiments, creativity, and discovery.
At school, children regularly access learning tools at school through various apps and programmes that entice children to be drawn in. A handy solution to keeping rowdy children sat at desks, and an obvious way to engage screen addicted youth with their learning, these programmes seem like an ideal. The system wants easy child care – compliance – and the children are willing to be placated. It is tolerable way to for the youth to indulge the fact-piling that is spoon fed to them 6 hours a day. They are willing to be ‘fix’ed at their screens in return for either low key relaxation, or for others as a guarantee that they are succeeding in the race.
But more than this, Haidt refers to a recent study has shown that children in schools are spending on average 90 minutes a day on their own phones, watching, clicking, liking, scrolling, adding emojis, messaging. We can be sat next to one another, not engaging with one another’s faces, but with the little screen that dictates the day.
Jonathon Haidt’s description of the detrimental effects of ‘quick’ dopamine, and importance of ‘slow’ dopamine seem very accurate. Quick dopamine from screens causes everything else to seem boring. Putting the phone down. Leaving the remote control alone. Talking to another person. Trying out a project. Designing an idea. Building an invention. Learning an instrument. It all seems so boring after the ‘quick dopamine’ of screen time.
Rainy days without telly
Today it rained. It wasn’t all that much fun to be in. We’re very used to it – we do live in Scotland after all. Even on mainland Scotland, the weather is island life.
Like any other day we brought the dogs out for their walk. To be honest, not everybody was on top form. It took 3 pairs of socks for one child (after losing them all) to finally exit the house. Such was the indignation that said weather required socks. Faff by the gallon by others, myself included, and a horse bite to round it off meant we left the house with a sense of duty rather than any real willingness.
Noticing beauty and fun
Ten minutes in, and inquisitive minds were running all over the woodland. Slow dopamine must have been trickling through, like a brook straight from a spring. A wisened old beech bearing a rope swing must have held many a child in its many years. A drain from one river to a bubbling lake called for a dam to be built. A tunnel under a bridge for messages to be sent via echo.
“If you swear, I’ll swear back!” Is it a threat? Is it comradery? Is it boundaries? Is it a dare?
One minute they’re commander pilots, and another they’re on a rescue mission. Running feet and treasure to be found, and sodden trees to be shaken over an unsuspecting passer by (usually me).
Slow dopamine and ADHD
For my children (having been in the school system for a decade) this kind of energy and cooperation can only be found in the homeschool set up. Slow dopamine induced activity soothes the effects of ADHD, and promotes executive function. Noticing, being present, responding rather than reacting and loosening from fight or flight mode are all so much more accessible when we’re not nagged by addictive habits.
https://thereisnoshouldbe.com/coping-with-behaviour/
Slow dopamine activities at home
If I’m honest, I’m not at all keen to bring the telly back out of the garage. Sometimes it truly would be easier to put them in front of the screen while I finish up my work for the evening. But that is a complicated tangle – to strap in 3 boys via remote control for as long as it takes for me to meet my needs, albeit often on behalf of my family.
When I untangle that addiction, and get through the messiness of unplugging my children, I find a homemade slot car race track built in the snug in place of the TV. A collaborative, idea packed project, representing joint decisions and a game built between a 13 year old, a 9 year old and a 6 year old – the equivalent of primary, middle and secondary education. So much relationship and negotiation. A plan was made, speed bumps were included, trophies and medals were drawn, and various locations tested.
The value of contribution
Pleasure to contribute, happy to push a wheel barrow, glad to groom a horse and go for a ride, willing to fill hay nets and shovel manure – our boys are benefiting greatly by having alternative relaxation options, and different educational opportunities. It’s not for us – youth, adolescents especially, can feel well when they contribute and make a difference in their community.
https://www.starkravingdadblog.com/episode-25-finding-balance-with-screens/
Thanks for the link. I hadn’t read the material about “slow dopamine” before, but I do know that a lot of people who work in Silicon Valley, creating the quick-dope tech, spend tens of thousands to send their own children to tech-free schools.